EAAE - IKU - Proceedings - Educating The Future

EDUCATING THE FUTURE: ARCHITECTURAL EDUCATION IN
INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE
© Istanbul Kültür University
Edited by: Esra Fidanoglu
Book Design: Esra Fidanoglu
Cover Design: Erdem Ungur
First Published: July 2013
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İstanbul Kültür University Library Cataloging in Publication Data:

Educating the Future: Architectural Education in International Perspective
/ ed. Esra Fidanoglu. - İstanbul: İstanbul Kültür University, 2013.
iv+227 p. ; 29,7cm. (İstanbul Kültür University Publication; 195)
ISBN 978-605-4763-09-2
I. Architecture II. Education III. Congress
EDUCATING THE FUTURE: ARCHITECTURAL EDUCATION IN
INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE
Edited by Esra Fidanoglu

International EAAE Conference-Workshop-Exhibition Educating the Future: Architectural Education in the
International Perspective 21-23 March 2013, IKU, Istanbul
IV
PREFACE
Architecture is not only a practice for the production of space, but also a field of knowledge
related to art, culture, economy, society, technology, philosophy, policy, history and geography
as well. The interdisciplinary structure of architecture affects the characteristics of the
architectural education. There are hundreds of schools of architecture around the world granting
the certificate/diploma for architecture. Considering the power of mobility and communication,
the number of the architects working outside of their countries is increasing parallel with the
economic crisis. Crossing the borders brings new questions in case of architectural education
as well: What are the standards for an architectural education? Can working together be a way
for a cultural and technical exchange; how can the projects be supported financially? What are
the limits of architecture, or what is the final product of architecture? What should be the profile
of an architect?
Discussions on issues of the architectural education are needed to improve the quality of
architectural products of varying scales from objects to cities for enriching the everyday life.
European Association for Architectural Education (EAAE) organizes activities and projects in the
scope of the whole the world. ―The EAAE is an international non-profit association committed to
the exchange of ideas and people within the field of architectural education and research. The
EAAE aims at improving the knowledge base and the quality of architectural and urban design
education.‖ (http://www.eaae.be/info.php?maintype=about&type=EAAE)
One of the EAAE Projects is ―Improving Turkish School Relationships with EAAE and Member
Schools‖1 which is started in 2012.
There are more than 60 Turkish schools of architecture which can be seen as a supportive
power in the view of EAAE on education and practice. Turkish schools are open to share their
values directly with the universities in Europe. This might be an opportunity for European
academicians and students to share the eastern energy and create challenging projects for the
future. The aim of our project is motivating the academicians in Turkey and Europe not only for
becoming active members of EAAE, but also to create a platform for the academicians and the
students to share their experiences on architectural education and to have new experiences on
sharing various approaches to architectural design education in the context of reading, creating,
constructing by synchronic workshops and setting partnerships for the future projects within an
informal atmosphere of face to face contact.
A conference supported by workshops and exhibitions was structured as a medium for re-
thinking on architecture in the context of identity, legitimacy and multidisciplinarity in
Architecture considering the changing agenda and values. Targeting to reach to the maximum
number of academicians, we can encourage them to share their teaching practices and see the
current approaches to architectural education.
1
Members of the project group are Esra Fidanoglu (Project Leader), Suasanne Komossa, Johan Verbeke, Adalberto
del Bo, Zeno Bogdanescu, Guven Arif Sargin, Arzu Erdem
V
We started with a group of 5 academicians, in Europe and a group of 22 academicians in

Turkey. Many academicians and students worked during the organization of the conference. We
are thankful to all our scientific committee members, paper presenters, keynote speakers,
chairs, workshop attendees and guests who gave their time and energy to this event which is
designed for connecting colleagues from different cultures in person.
We aimed to create an atmosphere for sharing not only knowledge but joy of life as well. We
wish everybody is involved in various units like workshop, exhibition, paper presentation, the
poster presentation, the speaker‘s corner, the dinner workshop and the city trip. We hope this
conference becomes a starting point for the future partnerships. Our website
(http://eaaeiku.iku.edu.tr/index.php/eaaeIKU/2013) will be kept active for establishing a future
network of personal contact in the field of architectural education. We hope this small group of
people will get bigger in the future working together for definite projects.
Discussions was held on curricula: different profiles/same diplomas; research and funding:
opportunities and recent developments; similarities and differences: architecture and the
disciplines of art, design and construction; and practice: relationship to the profession.
Curricula: different profiles/same diplomas: Architects are licensed to build… They graduate
from various schools all over the world. The basic knowledge and skills belonging to
architecture for thinking, designing and constructing is taught in these schools. Do all of the
recent graduates in architecture have sufficient quality? What are the differences among the
various architectural programs and their reflections? Do we need accreditation? What is the
mission of an architect? What are the differences among the values belonging to various
schools/countries?
Research and funding: opportunities and recent developments; Architecture is a discipline.

Research produces knowledge, insight and understanding. Knowledge is produced through
thinking and making. What kind of knowledge and research is the key to the field? How can
designing play a role in the knowledge processes? Who are the investors for architectural
research? Is there a connection between research and making? Does changing the
statue/affiliation increase the quality/success in architectural research? How can research help
to develop new technologies, methods and tools for design?
Similarities and differences: architecture and the disciplines of art, design and construction:
Architecture shares the same territories with some of the other disciplines… The limits of
research and practice in architecture overlap with interior architecture, landscape architecture,
urban design, industrial design and art. How do we distinguish the place, the size and the
subject of design? What is the product of architecture?
Practice: relationship to the profession: Architecture is a field of practice… What are the
expectations of the professionals from school? Who is the subject of detail and maintenance
issues? Is there a mission like social and physical sustainability for an architect? What are the
stimulators for the spatial organization and elements of space? What are the international
working conditions?
The units as various ways of expression for encouraging the attendees having different skills
worked well not only for face to face contact, but also for the production of interesting outcomes.
VI
Poster presentation unit was for the attendees who prefer to express their thoughts about the
conference issues in one poster. Workshop unit ―Intervening Istanbul‖ became a platform for
experiencing the team work with the participants from various schools on reading the dynamics
of Istanbul and making an intervention to city life by constructing an interaction point. Another
workshop unit ―Transmission by Food and Space‖ as a spatial experience of architecture and
culinary arts in the form of a dinner took place considering sometimes we learn through our
bodies much more than our academic intellect. Speaker’s Corner unit was a free platform for
every individual to share her/his ideas with the audience. It is a very important unit for our
conference which will take place as a parallel session with the paper presentations. Exhibition
unit ―Starting Architectural Education‖ was open to all European and Turkish universities for
sharing their first three months works of the students to express the vision of the schools
through one poster.
Before the project, we had four member schools of EAAE. Now 4 more schools are added in the
list of active members. This number will grow accelerating with the integration of the people in
person to the issues on architectural education from different perspectives belonging to different
geographies. We targeted to improve our conference to become a sharing platform for
architectural education as a threshold connecting the geographies of North, South, East and
West.
We had attendees from not just from Europe but from United States, Iran and India as well.
People had the chance to introduce themselves in person not only as academicians, but also as
human beings who laugh, dance, cook, make jokes, work together and see the beauties of the
world.
I present my special thanks to our Dean Prof. Dr. Mehmet Sener Kucukdogu who encouraged
me to start, to our Chair of the Department Prof. Dr. Neslihan Dostoglu who guided for all kind of
issues related to the conference, to our previous Rector Prof. Dr. Dursun Kocer who opened the
way for me to work on this mission, to our Rector Prof. Dr. Siddika Semahat Demir for
supporting in all means and to the distinguished attendees who enriched our conference with
their papers and existence. To our sponsors: Student Club of Architecture (MIKULT), The
Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK), Istanbul Beyoglu
Municipality and MNG Cargo. Finally, I wish to share how happy I am for working to do our best
to organize the conference together with the young staff of our department.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Esra Fidanoglu

Editor
Vice President, Organization Committee
Istanbul Kultur University, Turkey
Project Leader, EAAE
VII
Educating the Future: Research and Learning

The EAAE is an international, non-profit-making organization committed to the exchange of
ideas and people within the field of architectural education and research. Its aim is to improve
the knowledge base and the quality of education in architecture, urbanism and building
sciences. Founded in 1975, the EAAE has grown in stature to become a recognized body
fulfilling an increasingly essential role in providing a European perspective for the work of
architectural educationalists as well as concerned government agencies.
The EAAE counts about 150 active members schools across Europe representing more than
5.000 tenured faculty teachers and over 120.000 students of architecture from the
undergraduate to the doctoral level. The Association is building up associate membership world-
wide. It offers a variety of important issues in conferences, workshops and summer schools for
teachers. The Association publishes and distributes conference proceedings and a News Letter.
It also grants awards and provides its Data Bank information to its members.
The information the EAAE collects about Architectural Education in Europe in its Data Bank
reveals an astonishing diversity of curricula and educational approaches across the continent.
Architectural education in Europe is very diverse. This diversity is surprising and challenging, it
makes it difficult to compare standards. But primarily it is a good thing. Europe is a continent of
great cultural diversity and its architecture reflects this. Thus it‘s only natural that architectural
education is diverse as well. We should take pride in this diversity and preserve it.
However: preserving this diversity isn‘t the same as preserving the status quo. It doesn‘t mean
that we should try to keep everything as it is! In fact it means quite the opposite: A vibrant
diversity can only be kept alive through constant change! Those who do not question their ways
of teaching, those who aren‘t ready to learn from others, those who stop trying to improve their
own methods also stop being relevant. They lose their stake in this vibrant and diverse
educational landscape.
The ―Educating the future‖ conference that was hosted by İstanbul Kültür University (IKU) in
March 2013 was precisely about this openness for change. The next generation of students
represents our future. Educating them means preparing them for this future, means giving them
the knowledge, the skills, the sensibilities and the thinking tools they will need to become the
competent and responsible architects who will be able to design our future cities. It means
instilling them with a hunger to learn throughout their careers. We cannot do this if we don‘t set
an example by also learning ourselves as educators.
Therefore ―Educating the future‖ means learning from one another. It means understanding the
teaching of architecture as a topic of debate and research. It is no accident that the role of
research in architectural education is increasingly important. Research is the concerted quest
for a better understanding of the world. It paves the way for the future of our profession. There
are growing demands being put on the quality of our built environment. Our buildings have to
fulfill ever more standards, provide ever more levels of comfort, but at the same time they are
expected to preserve our resources, minimize waste, be socially responsible and economically
viable. To cope with all these often conflicting is an increasingly difficult task. As a consequence
VIII
the demand for substantial and reliable research is also growing. In fact, in more and more
architecture schools, research has become an important activity, one that influences the
teaching as well as the professional profile of the graduates. Compared with other academic
fields, architecture is relatively new in this. Its success rate in applying for external funding, the
number of peer-reviewed publications or of PhDs it produces isn‘t at the level of other academic
disciplines. We have some catching up to do. Establishing a broader and stronger research
tradition in architecture won‘t happen over night. It will take time and effort. This effort has to be
an international one.
The EAAE recognized this need and set up a research group in 2009. This group was made up
of over 40 architectural academics from 18 different countries. In a process that went through
several iterations over three years this group has produced the EAAE Research Charter, which
was accepted by the EAAE General Assembly in 2012. The Charter defines and describes the
various types of research activities in architecture. It is a valuable reference document for
architecture schools everywhere.
Members of the research group also set out to create a database with architectural research
publications. Questions of architectural research are also frequently the topic of various
workshops and conferences that EAAE members organize. All of these activities contribute to a
strengthening of architectural research, a strengthening of our learning from one another and
thereby a strengthening of architecture as an academic field. The ―Educating the future‖
conference is a perfect example. This conference not only discussed questions of research and
teaching, but also of cultural diversity. Furthermore it improved the ties between the growing
number of architecture schools in Turkey and the EAAE.
Istanbul Kültür University was a perfect host for this mutual exchange across cultures. On behalf
of the EAAE I wish to thank the organizers for the wonderful job they did in bringing us together
to learn for the future.
Prof. Dr. Urs Hirschberg

Graz University of Technology, Austria
President 2012-13, EAAE
IX
Architectural Education and the Future

The European Association for Architectural Education (EAAE) is an association that has aimed
to improve the knowledge base and the quality of architectural and urban design education, for
the benefit of academicians, students, citizens, and society since 1975. Today, the association
has around 150 European and international schools of architecture, representing 5000
academicians and over 120,000 students, as members. Among the 73 Departments of
Architecture in Turkey and in Turkish Republic of North Cyprus, there are unfortunately only 9
schools that are members of EAAE.
It is not a coincidence that the international conference, entitled ―Educating the Future:
Architectural Education in the International Perspective‖, which brought together some of the
world‘s leading thinkers and practitioners in the field of architecture, took place at İstanbul Kültür
University during March 21-23, 2013. I am proud to emphasize the fact that İstanbul Kültür
University is among the first three schools in Turkey that have become members of the EAAE,
and has participated in many activities of the EAAE, until the present, based on its aim in
improving the quality of architectural education by increasing the awareness on international
developments.
İstanbul Kültür University Department of Architecture is also a pioneer in its stand for
accreditation. It is one of the first three schools in Turkey, and the first and only foundation
university in Turkey that has been accredited by MIAK, the Architectural Accreditation Board in
Turkey.
In the international academic meeting that took place in March 2013, architectural education
was re-evaluated in the context of identity, legitimacy and multidisciplinarity, considering the
changing values at present. In the sessions that continued for two days, discussions were held
on curricula (different profiles / same diplomas), research and funding (opportunities and recent
developments), similarities and differences (architecture and the disciplines of art, design and
construction), and practice (relationship to the profession). By sharing the individual innovative
thoughts on architectural education in this conference, schools in Europe and Turkey had the
chance to experience and discuss their similarities and differences within a friendly atmosphere
in a big city full of cultural diversity.
I would like to thank Assoc. Prof. Dr. Esra Fidanoglu, who was the Vice President of this
Conference, to the Organization and Scientific Committees for all their efforts, to Prof. Dr.
Mehmet Şener Küçükdoğu, the Dean of the Faculty of Architecture, and to Prof. Dr. Sıddıka
Semahat Demir, the Rector of İstanbul Kültür University for their continuous support in making
this event possible. Last, but not least, my thanks go to all the keynote speakers, and the
participants who presented valuable papers, and to everyone who has contributed by their
comments in this conference.
Prof. Dr. Neslihan Dostoglu

Chair, Department of Architecture
President, EAAE Conference
X
Future Intersections
Architecture is a wide field at the interface of various fields on humanity. Education in
architecture is a very complicated issue considering the variety of schools teaching architecture.
Improving the relationship in-between different schools might be a chance to understand
different approaches to the architectural education.
European Association for Architectural Education (EAAE) is a very sophisticated association

working for improving the schools contact which is one of the important reasons for our school
to be a member. We support EAAE for their contribution to architectural education in many
aspects. We started to build up by giving our efforts on expanding the number of the member
schools of architecture in Turkey by a project leaded by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Esra Fidanoglu since
2012. This conference is one of the steps for the EAAE project ―Improving Turkish School
Relationships with EAAE and Member Schools‖.
By the conference ―Educating the Future‖, we welcome the schools of architecture in Turkey
and in Europe for improving the network combining the academicians and the students for
future projects. We believe in the future of this conference to be enlarged to comprise more
countries from east, north, south and west. Our conference website will sustain and blossom,
welcoming the future partners for architectural education.
We are proud of organizing a meeting full of such wonderful people who give their hearts to
architecture and education. I wish to express my gratitude to the Rectorate of Istanbul Kultur
University for supporting this conference and to the distinguished attendees who enriched our
conference with their existence.
Prof. Dr. Mehmet Sener Kucukdogu

Dean, Faculty of Architecture
XI
Building Friendships, Collaborations and Projects

Dear Members of the European Association for Architectural Education, Dear Dr. Urs President,
Dean of Istanbul Kultur University Architecture Faculty, the faculty members, Experts and
Academicians representing Architectural Education at National and International Levels,
distinguished guests, and dear students.
On behalf of Istanbul Kultur university, I would like to welcome you all to the European
Association for Architectural Education International Conference and Workshop on Architectural
Education.
It is a great pleasure and honor for us to host this meeting which provides an international
platform to discuss curricula, collaborations, research and funding opportunities, similarities and
differences in art, design, construction and architecture and also the practice for the profession.
First I would like to give you some information and my thoughts about my Architecture Faculty.
The Faculty of Architecture at Istanbul Kultur University was formally established in 2012;
however, it started its educational and research program as a department within our
Engineering Faculty when the university was founded 16 years ago.
In 2010, our architecture program was accredited by the national Architectural Accreditation
Board for a three-year-period. This accreditation demonstrates the importance that our faculty
gives to quality assurance and to the national and international standards in Education.
Our faculty members, who have organized this meeting, will share more details about the faculty
and our architecture program in the coming sessions.
As the president of the university, I should say how I am proud of my architecture faculty. Our
faculty members have the passion to educate the future architects and they are dedicated to
excellence in teaching, training and projects. My architecture faculty members mentor the
students for success.
We‘re very proud that in 2010 our architecture faculty became a member of the European
Association for Architectural Education, the organization that brings us together today. This
organization is a very valuable network and offers lots of initiatives to its members. We hope to
expand its membership in Turkey through this meeting.
Architecture is a discipline which combines creativity and technique. It also requires social
awareness, responsibility, and a deep understanding and appreciation of different cultures as
much as technical knowledge. And above all, it is a global profession.
The education in architecture should not be limited by practical implications and disciplinary
knowledge. Creativity must be an integral part of architectural education as well as respect
towards life, nature, and to diversity of cultures. It is for this reason that our Architecture Faculty
XII
has created an exemplary instructional framework for both our Turkish and English Architecture
Programs.
This meeting today and tomorrow provides the platform to share different experiences and
practices in Architecture. You will be presenting and discussing the current status and future
trends of the architecture education and will be making recomendations for the future.
I am sure that very exciting ideas and perspectives will emerge from the discussions at your
sessions.
I hope that the meeting will further promote education, training, networking and collaborations
and will also guide the architecture education globally.
I know that you will inspire future architects and develop new projects.
I‘d like to take this opportunity to congratulate the organizers of the conference, the organizining
committee members and the scientific committee members.
I would like to thank the Dean of our Architecture Faculty, Professor Mehmet Şener Küçükdoğu,
the EAAE Project chair Professor Esra Fidanoğlu, the conference chair Professor Neslihan
Dostoğlu and all of the architecture faculty members, the members of the European Association
for Architectural Education, the distinguished speakers and conference participants. Thank you
all for your valuable contributions for making this a successful conference.
Before I finish, I want to recall my initial thought that architecture is about creativity. The
students of our university‘s Architecture Club didn‘t surprise me at all. They have made an
invaluable contribution to this stimulating conference. For this evening, they have designed and
created an interactive dining experience with the celebrated and renowned Chef Rudolf Van
Nunen. I believe this experience of sharing magic of food and space will be a great event and
an opportunity to bring together gourmet architects. Now I do conclude that architecture is also
about interdisciplinary and innovative designing with space and Turkish food. I assure you that
Turkish food is delicious and adds another dimension to our cultural diversity.
You will wrap up this productive conference with a wonderful evening dinner- and I congratulate
our students once again for their creativity and innovation for organizing the evening event.
Thank you very much. Enjoy your conference!
Please build the long life lasting friendships, collaborations and projects!
Prof. Dr. Siddika Semahat Demir

Rector
XIII
SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE
Adalberto Del Bo Politecnico di Milano, Italy

Arzu Erdem Istanbul Technical University, Turkey
Balint Bachmann University of Pecs, Hungary
Esra Fidanoglu Istanbul Kultur University, Turkey
Gulsum Baydar Yasar University, Turkey
Guven Arif Sargin Middle East Technical University, Turkey
Johan Verbeke Sint Lucas School of Architecture, Belgium
Keersten Geers Sint Lucas School of Architecture, Belgium
Mehmet Kucukdogu Istanbul Kultur University, Turkey
Mehmet Kutukcuoglu Teget Architectural Office, Turkey
Michiel Riedijk Delft University of Technology, Netherlands
Murat Ulug Istanbul Kultur University, Turkey
Murray Fraser UCL The Bartlett School of Architecture, England
Neslihan Dostoglu Istanbul Kultur University, Turkey
Richard M. Sommer University of Toronto, Canada
Susanne Komossa Delft University of Technology, Netherlands
Urs Hirschberg Technical University of Graz, Austria
Zeno Bogdanescu Ion Mincu University, Romania
CONFERENCE ORGANIZING COMMITTEE
Asiye Akgun Istanbul Kultur University, Turkey

Asli Yalcin Istanbul Kultur University, Turkey
Ceren Göğüş Istanbul Kultur University, Turkey
Demet Dincer Istanbul Kultur University, Turkey
Ege Uluca Tumer Istanbul Kultur University, Turkey
Erdem Ungur Istanbul Kultur University, Turkey
Esra Fidanoglu (Vice Chair) Istanbul Kultur University, Turkey
Evren Burak Enginoz Istanbul Kultur University, Turkey
Evrim Tore Istanbul Kultur University, Turkey
Gaye Gunaydin Istanbul Kultur University, Turkey
Gonca Arik Istanbul Kultur University, Turkey
Ilke Tekin Istanbul Kultur University, Turkey
Mehmet Emre Arslan Istanbul Kultur University, Turkey
Neslihan Dostoglu (Chair) Istanbul Kultur University, Turkey
Nur Genc Istanbul Kultur University, Turkey
Oya Keskin Istanbul Kultur University, Turkey
Pelin Cetken Istanbul Kultur University, Turkey
Serhat Kut Istanbul Kultur University, Turkey
Tugce Eren Istanbul Kultur University, Turkey
XIV
EAAE PROJECT GROUP
Adalberto Del Bo Politecnico di Milano, Italy

Arzu Erdem Istanbul Technical University, Turkey
Balint Bachmann University of Pecs, Hungary
Esra Fidanoglu (Project Leader) Istanbul Kultur University, Turkey
Guven Arif Sargin Middle East Technical University, Turkey
Johan Verbeke Sint Lucas School of Architecture, Belgium
Susanne Komossa Delft University of Technology, Netherlands
Zeno Bogdanescscu Ion Mincu University, Romania
TURKISH SUPPORTIVE TEAM for the PROJECT
Ahenk Yılmaz Izmir University of Economy

Asli Yalcin Istanbul Kultur University
Beyhan Bolak Hisarligil Meliksah University
Ceren Gogus Istanbul Kultur University
Derya Yorgancioglu Kemerburgaz University
Esra Sahin Burat Mersin University
Gulay Yedekci Aslan Yeniyuzyil University
Hasan Firat Diker Fatih Sultan Mehmet University
Hossein Sadri Girne American University
İnci Basa Bilkent University
Mehtap Ozbayraktar Kocaeli University
Müjde Altın Dokuz Eylul University
Murat Gul TOBB Economy and Technology University
Nilay Unsal Gulmez Bahcesehir University
Resmiye Alpar East Mediterranean University
Sedef Ozcelik Gebze High Technology university
Sıla Durhan Dogus University
Yekta Ozguven Maltepe University
Yenal Akgün Gediz University
Zeynep Yazıcıoğlu Halu Yeditepe University
XV
KEYNOTES and CHAIRS
Similarities and differences: architecture and the disciplines of art, design

and construction
Architecture shares the same territories with some of the other disciplines… The
limits of research and practice in architecture overlap with interior architecture,
landscape architecture, urban design, industrial design and art. How do we
distinguish the place, the size and the subject of design? What is the product of
architecture?
Keynote: Johan Verbeke (Prof. Dr. / Sint Lucas School of Architecture, Belgium)
Chair: Susanne Komossa (Assoc. Prof. Dr. / Technical University Delft, Netherkands)
Research and funding: opportunities and recent developments

Architecture is a discipline. Research produces knowledge, insight and
understanding. Knowledge is produced through thinking and making. What kind
of knowledge and research is key to the field? How can designing play a role in
the knowledge processes? Who are the investors for architectural research? Is
there a connection between research and making? Does changing the
statue/affiliation increase the quality/success in architectural research? How can
research help to develop new technologies, methods and tools for design?
Keynote: Veronica Valk (Ph.D student taking RTS Program / Zizi&Yoyo LLC, Estonia)
Chair: Johan Verbeke (Prof. Dr. / Sint Lucas School of Architecture, Belgium)
Curricula: different profiles/same diplomas

Architects are licensed to build… They graduate from various schools all over the
world. The basic knowledge and skills belonging to architecture for thinking,
designing and constructing is taught in these schools. Do all of the recent
graduates in architecture have sufficient quality? What are the differences among
the various architectural programs and their reflections? Do we need
accreditation? What is the mission of an architect? What are the differences
among the values belonging to various schools/countries?
Keynote: Richard M. Sommer (Prof. Dr. / University of Totonto, Canada)

Chair: Neslihan Dostoglu (Prof. Dr. / Istanbul Kultur University, Turkey)
Practice: relationship to the profession

Architecture is a field of practice… What are the expectations of the
professionals from school? Who is the subject of detail and maintenance issues?
Is there a mission like social and physical sustainability for an architect? What
are the stimulators for the spatial organization and elements of space? What are
the international working conditions?
Keynote: Mehmet Kutukcuoglu (Teget Architectural Office, Turkey)

Chair: Arzu Erdem (Prof. Dr. / Istanbul Technical University, Turkey)
XVI
CONTENTS
PREFACE
Assoc. Prof. Dr . Esra Fidanoglu V
EAAE Educating the Future: Research and Learning
Prof. Dr. Urs Hirschberg VIII
Architectural Education and the Future
Prof. Dr. Neslihan Dostoglu X
Future Intersections
Prof. Dr. Mehmet Sener Kucukdogu XI
Building Friendships, Collaborations and Projects
Prof. Dr. Siddika Semahat Demir XII
KEYNOTE PAPERS
Architectural Research and Practice

Johan Verbeke 1
Perseverance in Protean Substratum: Multi-modality in practice
Veronika Valk 6
Architecture / Profession / Education
Mehmet Kutukcuoglu 17
XVII
PAPERS
Similarities and differences:

Architecture and the disciplines of art,
design and construction
Hybrid Buildings Celebrate the Collective Realm:
Design research at the TU Delft
Olindo Caso, Roberto Cavallo 29
Toward a More Integrative Learning:
Reconsidering the scope and value of liberal education in architectural curricula
Derya Yorgancioglu 42
Rhythm, Music and Architecture;
A studio experience on commonalities of creative processes
Bilge Imamoglu, Derin Inan, Basak Ucar 50
Research and Funding:

Opportunities and Recent Developments
Re-Visiting BSED*: An interpretation of the educational aims

of a collective movement at metu in 1970‘s
Burcu Beslioglu 60
Private and Public Knowledge from Architectural Research
Bruno Gil 70
Transcontinental Lessons in Affordable Housing
Pierjin VAN DER PUTT 79
Research in Architecture:
Reflection on three approaches linking research and design
Bernard Colenbrander,
Ana Pereira Roders , Loes Veldpaus 86
XVIII
The Architectural Design Studio as a Series of Research Programs

Jorge Alberto Mejia Hernandez,
Tom Avermaete, Sien Van Dam 95
Curricula:
Different Profiles/Same Diplomas
Innovative Architecture, Research and Education at the Same Place

Tamás Molnár, Bálint Bachmann 104
Architectural Education and Music:

Counterpoint as the meeting point between the two arts
Konstantina Demiri, Sofia Tsiraki ,
Jannis Athanasopoulos 111
Advanced Form and Aesthetics Courses in Architecture
R. Sandesh 122
Teaching Architectural Design in Delft;
Different architectural positions, common ground
Susanne Komossa 128
Research and Architecture & Urbanism and PhD programs
in the European Mediterranean context - patterns and links
A.Nuno Martins, Miguel Santiago Fernandes 136
Practice:
Relationship to the Profession
Digital Communication in Multi-Disciplinary Teams:
Preparing students for a future building project context
Stefan Boeykens, Pauline De Somer,
Ralf Klein, Dirk Saelens 151
XIX
Expanding Architecture through Education:

Experimenting on the margins of our discipline
Petra Pferdmenges 146
Research into the Education of (a) Practice:

Outlining a Profile in a Context of Profiles
Jo Van Den Berghe 164
Can Theories Transform Cities?

Aseem Inam 185
SPEAKER’S CORNER 193
EXHIBITION: posters 197
EXHIBITION: starting architectural education 205
WORKSHOP / BUILDING: Intervening Istanbul 211
WORKSHOP / SHARING: Magic of Food and Space 215
FORUM: Final Words 225
XX
XXI
XXII
Architectural Research and Practice
Johan Verbeke
LUCA, Sint-Lucas Faculty of Architecture, Belgium
[email protected]
Johan Verbeke is graduated in 1984. Since 1991 he works for the School of Architecture Sint-Lucas. He is currently a
full professor and a member of the Board of the head of school and responsible for research and the international
relations. He is the creator and in charge of the Research Training Sessions (RTS) programme of the School of
Architecture Sint-Lucas to develop and stimulate 'research by designing' since 2004. He is actively stimulating and
supervising research connected to art, architectural and design practice. Considering numerous international projects
made, conferences organized, books and journals edited, articles written, he can be considered as expert in the field
of CAAD and research by design.
Abstract
It is well known that innovation in architecture is generated by experimentation

and that a major part of this is happening in practice. This paper will argue that
we should not see this as a problem, but that we should embrace architectural
practice in academic research and that the field of Architecture is especially well
placed to do so.
Introduction
In the call for the recent conference ArchiDoctor Universalis, Future of Research in European
Architectural Education (EHNSA, 12-14 March 2013) it was stated that: "In its majority,
innovation in Architecture is generated by the advanced experimentations happening in a
distinctive part of architectural practice or by research in the domain of the building industry and
not by schools of architecture". We are all aware of many building which have triggered a major
development and/or have contributed to shifting paradigms in the field of Architecture. At the
same time the impact of university research on industry remains limited. This situation is the
result of mutual misunderstanding and a lack of collaboration and communication. Knowledge
and understanding have difficulty in being transferred between academia and practice.
During the last decade, higher education is faced with many changes and new challenges. The
following (non-exhaustive) list includes some of the main developments impacting on research
in architecture in the schools of architecture over Europe:
 As a consequence of the Bologna declaration

(http://www.ond.vlaanderen.be/hogeronderwijs/bologna/documents/MDC/BOLOG
NA_DECLARATION1.pdf [accessed 5th February 2013]), research becomes
more and more important for all disciplines and hence also for architecture.
Higher education is said to be knowledge and research based. Hence it become
necessary for schools of architecture to be more explicit on their research
endeavors.
 Artistic research is rapidly developing in all schools of art in Europe; artistic
research is research where the artistic production, making and performing is the
main pathway through which knowledge, insight and understanding is generated
(H. Borgdorff, 2010). Plenty of PhDs projects have been starting during the last
five years.
1
 Research output starts impacting on the funding of schools of architecture (as it

does too on all other disciplines). In several countries (eg. UK, Norway and
Belgium) discussion are or have taken place to decide about what can be
included as research output: projects, art objects, buildings, etc. to complement
the traditional conference proceedings and journal papers. Peer-reviewed
publications become crucial.
 Schools of architecture are faced with budget cuts (as are all other disciplines). A
growing research income is very much welcomed to compensate for the loss of
funds from education.
 EAAE established a research charter. An international committee worked for
several years to establish a collective vision on research in the field of
architecture.
 Schools and the discipline of architecture are confronted with discussions with
other disciplines on priorities, funding possibilities, etc.
As a conclusion, it can be stated that the overall context has dramatically been changing during
the last decade. Where most schools in the past mainly focused their energy on education, it
suddenly becomes crucial for them to have an explicit research policy, which, moreover, can be
communicated and explained to other disciplines.
Designing and studio work traditionally take a big proportion of the time and energy spent by
students during their five year studies. However, when it comes to the doctoral level and
research, it is fascinating to see that this is no longer the case and work following other
disciplines' methods become dominant (history, sociology, building physics etc). So, it seems
logical to explore ways of undertaking research where design and studio work (including
practice) form the core of the research and knowledge process.
Also L. Sanders (2012) in a recent paper argued that traditionally research in design has been
driven by (applied) psychologists, anthropologists, sociologists, engineers, etc. She observes a
shift in recent research endeavors toward research where designing and practice are central in
the research. It is parallel to what is happening in the arts where artistic processes are the core
of artistic research.
What research?
There are many definitions for research. Overall, research is seen as activities leading to a new
contribution to the body of knowledge in a field or discipline. It is understood this knowledge is
1) contextualised (ie. situated in within the body of existing knowledge); 2) communicated (one
needs to do the effort to make the process and the outcomes understandable for other
researchers) and 3) peer-reviewed (one receives feedback from peers and reacts to the
comments and possible critic). Moreover, it is generally accepted that research needs to satisfy
the criteria of originality, significance and rigour (see eg. RAE2008 (Research Assessment
Exercise) in the UK).
The understanding of what knowledge exactly is, has been shifting over time. "One of the
problems for design and research is that research and the academy has become very
specialised, science as a word used to mean knowledge… it has come to mean a particular
type of knowledge formed in a particular way, reflecting a particular world view". (R. Glanville,
2007). Many architects still think of research as the kind of research which falls in the traditional
paradigm of theoretical work, while it becomes clear that tacit knowledge plays an important role
in innovation processes. In order to communicate and discuss this, it is necessary to develop a
common understanding and language.
2
The development of knowledge thorough reflection (D. Schön, 1983) is well known in the field
as D. Schön included cases from architecture and urban design. He especially stressed the
importance of reflection in action and the importance of knowledge processes while designing.
S. Östersjö (a guitar player) in his PhD (2008) introduced the concepts of 'thinking-in-action',
'Thinking-through-practice', 'Thinking-through-performing' and 'Thinking-through-hearing'. He
reported on his collaboration with five composers and how the playing, listening and interacting
led to improved understanding and knowledge.
Moreover, as was argued by J. Till ―architecture has its own particular knowledge base and
procedures. This particularity does not mean that one should avoid the normal expectations of
research, but in fact demands us to define clearly the context, scope and modes of research
appropriate to architecture, whilst at the same time employing the generic definitions of
originality, significance and rigour.‖
The EAAE research charter (2012) spends several paragraphs on research by design. This is
research where the architectural design process forms the pathway through which new insights,
knowledge, practices or products come into being. In the EAAE charter, Research by Design is
put forward as an important way to contribute to knowledge. It is seen as a research endeavor
appropriate for the field of architecture.
Design work can be situated on three levels, when discussing research. First, existing designs
and projects can be used as input for the research, this is what is happening in eg. history of
architecture. Documents in archives and existing buildings are the material which lead to
understanding and research results. A second position is taken when design work or projects
are used to illustrate theoretical understanding or ideas. Finally, design work (including practice)
can be used as the core process of the research. Understanding and insight is developed
through designing. It is only this third type of research which should be called research by
design (J. Verbeke, 2013).
This position is similar to developments in artistic research where eg. H. Borgdorff (2010) states:
Characteristic of artistic research is that art practice (the works of art, the artistic actions,
the creative processes) is not just the motivating factor and the subject matter of
research, but that this artistic practice – the practice of creating and performing in the
atelier or studio -- is central to the research process itself. Methodologically speaking,
the creative process forms the pathway (or part of it) through which new insights,
understanding and products come into being.
In part, then, the outcomes of artistic research are artworks, installations, performances
and other artistic practices, and this is another quality that differentiates it from
humanities or social science research – where art practice may be the object of
research, but not the outcome. This means that art practice is paramount as the subject
matter, the method, the context and the outcome of artistic research. That is what is
meant by expressions like 'practice-based' or 'studio-based' research.
From the above it becomes clear that within research, focus has been shifting toward types of
knowledge which are embedded in practice and especially which are generated by making,
doing, performing and designing and where experience is valued as a great source of evidence.
Artistic research is a good example of such developments. It shows researchers in the field of
architecture should not be afraid to use designing and projects as a pathway to develop
3
knowledge and understanding. Similar to the arts using their artistic practice in artistic research,
architectural practice can be used in research by design.
What brings the future?
In view of the above, it is natural to bring practice and experience from practice into academic
environments. This is also in line of general university policy (for all disciplines) stimulating
interaction between industry/practice and academia and what is happening in disciplines as law,
medicine, etc. Such collaborations increase relevance and significance of the research. When
research builds on and closely connects to practice, practice will evidently benefit more and
directly from the results. When practice and design work become an essential part of the
research it can be called research by design (EAAE) or creative practice research (L. van
Schaik, and A. Johnson, 2011). As in normal design studio presentations, it is logical to expect
research output to include projects and exhibition presentations as these are the natural ways of
communicating in architecture and have been developed as a language since the early times of
the discipline.
Recently, an ITN (initial training network) has been approved under the Marie Curie programme.
The ADAPT-r project (see adapt-r.eu) is an international network with the following core
partners: KU Leuven/Sint-Lucas, RMIT, Glasgow School of Arts, University of Westminster,
University of Ljubljana, Aarhus School of Architecture and the Estonian Academy of Arts. The
project aims to organize training for young researchers based on earlier undertaking and
experiences at RMIT and Sint-Lucas School of Architecture. It embraces practice as essential
for architectural research and places experiences from practice at the center of the research
endeavors. In view of the very selective selection process for this kind of projects, it is ensuring
this project has been approved. It validates the undertaking of research based on creative
practice as essential for the field of Architecture.
Conclusion
Since long, designing and creating projects has been the central focus in architecture and
design education at bachelor and master level. It is logical to also use this competence to create
new knowledge at PhD level. It is well known that innovation in architecture is generated by
experimentation and that a major part of this is happening in practice. This can be exploited by
embracing knowledge processes and experience from practice into the (academic) research at
the same time ensuring research outcomes are significant for practice. Academic institutions
should not be afraid of validating the knowledge and experience from practice when it is done in
a rigorous and consistent way. Hence, the duality academia – practice should not be seen as a
problem, but as a mutual beneficial. Learning from and incorporating experiences from practice
will contribute to innovate and develop the field.
In order to develop appropriate approaches, it is suggested not to install formality of one

method. It is suggested to explore and explore again and again. Researchers should learn from
these explorations and start building a specific knowledge base from the research where
designing is the core process.
Peer-reviewing should be structurally organized in order to raise quality as high as possible.
Acknowledgements
The research leading to these results has received funding from the People Program (Marie
Curie Actions) of the European Union's Seventh Framework Program FP7/2007-2013/ under
REA grant agreement n° 317325.
4
References
ENHSA, http://www.enhsa.net/ [accessed 23rd April 2013]
Henk Borgdorff, (2010) 'The Production of Knowledge in Artistic Research' in Michael Biggs and
Henrik Karlsson (eds.), The Routledge Companion to Research in the Arts (Abingdon, Oxon:
Routledge, 2010) pp. 44-63.
Glanville, R. (2007) Design prepositions. In M. Belderbos, & J. Verbeke (Eds.), The Unthinkable
Doctorate (pp. 115- 126). Brussels: Saint Lucas.
Östersjö, S. (2008) Shut up 'n' play! Negotiating the Musical Work, PhD Thesis, Malmö
Academies of Performing Arts, Lund University, Sweden.
van Schaik, Leon and Anna Johnson, eds. (2011). Architecture & Design, BY PRACTICE, BY
INVITATION, Design Practice Research at RMIT. Melbourne: School of Architecture + Design,
RMIT University, Australia.
Schön, D. (1983). The Reflective Practitioner: How Professions Think in Action. London, Basic
Books.
Till, J. What is Architectural Research,

http://www.architecture.com/Files/RIBAProfessionalServices/ResearchAndDevelopment/Whatis
ArchitecturalResearch.pdf [Accessed 10th May 2013].
Verbeke, J. (2011) Research by Design is up and running, AE Architecture and Education

Journal, Nr. 5/2011, pp. 111-119, http://revistas.ulusofona.pt/index.php/revlae/article/view/2682
[accessed 5th August 2012].
Verbeke, J. (2011) Recent trends in Research by Design(ing) in Proceedings of the 3rd

Symposium of Architectural Research 2011: Research & Praxis, Arkkitehtuuritutkimuksen päivät
2011: Tutkimus ja käytäntö at the School of Architecture, University of Oulu, Finland (2013).
5
Perseverance in Protean Substratum: Multi-modality in Practice
Veronika Valk
Estonian Academy of Arts, Faculty of Architecture, Estonia
[email protected]
Veronika Valk studied at the Estonian Academy of Arts and the Rhode Island School of Design, she is currently a
PhD candidate at RMIT University School of Architecture and Design in Melbourne. Working in her practice
Zizi&Yoyo, she has constructed both public and private buildings, designed interiors and landscapes, won some 30
prizes at various competitions as well as published essays on architecture and urbanism. She received the national
Young Architect Award in 2012.
Abstract
Reflecting on similarities and differences between architecture and the disciplines

of art, design and construction, it is firstly worthwhile to note that the
contemporary architectural practice‘s functioning is characterized by its
"plasticity," or its capacity to re-appropriate its vital operational mechanisms
according to experiences undergone by the society. Architecture as process of
facilitating positive social change situates the practice in the larger
political/economic/social condition. On the other hand, to enhance urban
environments, the practitioner attempts to design public interventions that offer
people opportunities to develop varied possibilities of creative expression and
activities in a multitude of stimulating ways. The paper is, in this sense, an
eclipse, a search for functional realities incorporating other disciplines,
institutional, ideological and structural processes. The author focuses on the
capacity of an architectural practice to bring urban events and spatial concepts
into tenable meaning. A multi-modal inclusive architectural practice sees end-
users, in other words individuals in changing situations, embracing a practice
which does not exclude interior architecture, landscape architecture, urban
design, industrial design and art. In case the product of architecture is daily living
environment, it is necessary for architecture to help the end-user to identify with
the place, the scale and the milieu produced by design. In return, such approach
also helps to strengthen the practitioner‘s own identity and relevance in crossing
contexts and traveling microclimates.
Keywords: Practice based research, publicness; multi-modal; microclimates;

disruptive; joyful
Architecture is a discipline based on practice which embodies research, producing knowledge,

insight and evidence. Knowledge is produced through simultaneous thinking and making: it is
tacit knowledge and tacit research that is the key to the field. Design and actual construction
processes play a key role in such knowledge production processes. In practice based research,
the venturous architecture offices (studios) are the actual investors in architectural research.
Funding is, in itself, a form of participation. It is up to the venturous practitioners to decide what
agency they want it to have, how to balance commercial or political interests with cultural ones,
and why it is ever more important to embed research in [sovereign] practice. As there is an
imminent, inseparable connection and overlap between research and making, then the
practitioner‘s affiliation with other parties affects the focus and output in architectural research.
6
Not only does the architectural practice help to develop new technologies, methods and tools for
design, but such research also evolves the field‘s capacity to re-appropriate its vital operational
mechanisms in shifting societal, economic and cultural contexts.
Reflecting on similarities and differences between architecture and the disciplines of art, design
and construction, it is first worthwhile to note that the contemporary architectural practice‘s
functioning is characterized by its "plasticity." Thus, to indicate a hypotheses beyond this
general level, it is precisely the multimodal protean practice which beholds the capacity to
facilitate [positive] or resists [negative] societal change, situating and in fact rooting the
architecture practice deep in the larger [global] yet at the same time specific [local] political,
economic, cultural and demographic context.
While scientists know that their work positions itself in the global context, architects are always
from a specific geographic location, their work belongs to a specific place. Thus, to suggest how
the issues raised might be investigated, let us look at some self-commissioned, thus also self-
funded samples as architectural interventions which help the end-user to identify with the place,
the scale and the milieu of daily living environment, where the priority is given to projects‘
relevance in crossing contexts and traveling microclimates.
Contents:
A Samples
B Findings
C Conclusion (Model)
SAMPLES
Sample 1: Tallinn waterfront urban ideas‘ competition winning entry (2000) by Veronika Valk
and Villem Tomiste tied the seaside together with tramline along the coast.
Estonian coastline is well disjuncture, mainland coastline length is 1242 km, islands 2551
km (including biggest island Saaremaa of 854 km). Estonia has ca1500 marine islands.
Current ongoing privatization of the coast, with signs stating that the piece of land is
privately owned, is somewhat similar to the situation during the Soviet times when the
coastline served as military border zone, was owned by the state and denied access to the
locals. Quite a few unique structures distinguish Tallinn seashore from waterfronts in other
European capitals.
Sample 2: Kultuurikatel initiative and urban development proposal to the city of Tallinn
(2006) by NGO Kultuurikatel board members Veronika Valk, Peeter-Eerik Ots, Maria
Hansar, Andres Lõo and Helene Vetik.
Kultuurikatel is an initiative for catalyst development on Tallinn waterfront, as well as
laboratory of the contemporary, with its operating tools developing synergy, symbiosis and
synchronization of the creative fields.10.000 sqm will host both outdoor and indoor
experimental as well as experiential spaces for tacit learning and performance -- multitude of
facilities for arts and sciences. Upon re-construction, Kultuurikatel is conceived as an open
study book on emergent resilience -- the built environment learns from natural phenomena
and in itself becomes a learning tool, to be explored, studied and evolved over time.
2.1. Smotel (Chimney hotel) project by Veronika Valk (2000) for Kultuurikatel 85-metre brick
chimney to be converted into a 35-story hotel. One room per floor, each level can offer 360⁰
panoramic views to the North onto Tallinn Bay and to the South towards the historic center,
via brick-scale illuminator windows.
7
Sample 3: Suure-Jaani Sports Centre by Veronika Valk (project in 2000) in collaboration

with Kavakava architects (construction completion in 2005) features climbable facade all
around the building: the teachers had to adapt with kids climbing onto the roof (also teach
them how to fall safely, instead of prohibiting the children from climbing).
According to locals, a ‗vegetable soup‘ has emerged literally in the middle of nowhere, in
Suure-Jaani rural town in Southern Estonia. Playful bright colored sports complex features
open-plan ball courts with sponge-like walls and felt panel ceilings for acoustic comfort. Kids
are thrilled by fully climbable façade – concrete slabs covered with perimetric ladder of
untreated siberian larix. Canopy‘s slim steel supports separating inner courtyard from the
street are in fact a bicycle rack. Interior design full of integrated solutions, e.g. cupboards as
drawing boards and exterior lighting performing for interior illumination via glass cupolas.
Sample 4: Composer E.Tubin monument by Veronika Valk (architect)), Aili Vahtrapuu

(sculptor), Louis Dandrel (sound engineering) is designed for outdoor interactive musical
experience. Figure 1
The monument is in honor of composer Eduard Tubin‘s 100th anniversary in Tartu, Estonia
(completion in 2005). Within this interactive waving soundscape installation in front of the
main theatre, visitor can hear fragments of his music by knocking on the gongs on the back
wall, as well as rest on black rubbery concrete seats emitting light from underneath onto
white ground and wall surfaces. The monument starts to resemble a giant drumming set
when people joyfully dance back and forth, playing the gongs. Hence emerges spontaneous
onsite choreography of visitors, be they young or old, students or blue-collars. Local
teachers are invited to hold music or history classes at the monument.
Sample 5: Lasva Water Tower by Veronika Valk (architect), Kadri Klementi, Kalle-Priit
Pruuden (sculptor), Kalle Tikas (sound engineer), Peeter Laurits (artist) features stairs which
can be played like a piano. Figure 2.
Lasva Water Tower conversion into a performance space, a visitor canter, an info point and
an art gallery in South Estonia (project in 2006, completion in 2009), has helped the formerly
desolate rural community next Russian border to make a difference for the whole
countryside in Estonia. The main attraction of the building is its piano stairs leading up to
grass roof. Besides analogue sound, the stairs use also electronics and prerecorded sound
samples.
Sample 6: Catapult shelter by Veronika Valk (architect), Tõnis Arjus, Niek Schutter
(designer) is about inhabiting the rooftop as second skin of existing urban fabric, exploring
the urban rooftop headroom as domain for innovation.
This lightweight mobile tent in the shape of a flower, performing as a catapult, was designed
and constructed in the city of Groningen in Holland, for the occasion of City on a Rooftop
workshop in August, 2006. Together with the catapult structure, an URBAN SELF HELP
GUIDE was designed on further possibilities to domesticate public space around.
Sample 7: Mikrouun installation by Veronika Valk (architect), Kadri Klementi, Andres Lõo
(audiovisuals), or transparent BLACK BOX, was originally a theatre set design.
It was invented at COLINA laboratory in Kanuti Theater in Tallinn (2006), and has been
presented also in Lyon (2007) and Cardiff (2007). This pneumatic architectural form as
mobile urban ‗breathing animal‘ is space for workshops, 3D-videodrome, shows and other
experiential events, it can serve as stage set, or as urban accommodation. Functioning as
space for 'showing‘ and a ‗stage‘, the cube is suitable for dance performances, drama,
installations, presentations of video work: invitation to play. Its aim is to offer both the
8
performers as well as audience a possibility to stay overnight in a space that would function
as a so-called social sculpture or participatory performance. Authors:
Sample 8: Urban Festivals of contemporary culture

The resource potential of urban festivals is revealed by their ability to challenge the status
quo of a city:
They fascinate in an immersive way.
They create memorable multisensorial experiences.
They offer a potential to transform experiential living qualities.
They comprise the idea of urban space as speculative public forum.
They focus on arts, sciences, (architectural) design, urbanism simultaneously.
They are based on the relevance of human biological need(s).
They are not about more experiences, but smarter ones.
They offer an experimental way to deal with and sustain change.
They help to discover future ways.
8.1. Bioest Festival

Borrowing its name from a vintage Estonian washing powder Bioest, the festival introduced
a new generation of Estonian artists and performers to New York City in 2011.
8.2. Valgusfestival [Tallinn Festival of Light]

8.2.1. Swinging in the Light installation by Veronika Valk consists of insulated super-sized
white hammocks which are illuminated with the red light of infrared lamps.
This ‗hot‘ installation was originally developed for the Festival of Light -- Valgusfestival -- in
Tallinn (2006), additionally presented in Eindhoven at GLOW festival in Holland (2007). In
wintertime Estonia, the nights last for about 16 hours. As a mobile hotel, this installation
aims at a brighter and happier wintertime by changing the appearance and use of public
space in an aesthetic and joyful sense. It is an open invitation to spend time outside despite
the cold wintery weather.
8.2.2. Igloo shelter by Veronika Valk used the natural material of snow, pouring it into
concrete casting formwork. Notes ―after a night spent in the igloo‖ by Veronika Valk on
February 25, 2006:
―...morning,
as promised, spent the last night in my igloo. stepping into a taxi just 10 minutes ago
watched the railway station vagabonds and thought how i had slept in such extremely
gorgeous conditions, similarly *homeless*.
...observations for the next winter‘s igloo village -- it is actually feasible to rent them
out for night as hotel suits, but the security issue is huge. overheard graffiti scribing
onto the igloo all throughout the night. drunk russian youngsters aggressing, as they
were desperate to see what‘s inside the igloo. *why can‘t we?!??* without a security
guard(ess) in a car in front of the entrance of the igloo i would‘ve been dead. of course
there was also an estonian madame who called down on her mate: *come take a look
before they yell at us!* (then pulling the cover and noticing my toes and an edge of my
sleeping bag: *look there‘s a corpse as well!?!!*) all in all -- the danish king garden
would make much more sense as a location next year in terms of security. three
access points which can be guarded. the whole garden could be reserved only for the
guests during hotel hours eg from 7-8pm until 10am. quick photo montage attached...
9
...generally speaking, it was an anxious night, about to dial 112 for 3 times, though
never had to make that call. Thus also next year the guests are going to be alert due
to extremist situation. Yet, the hush acoustics inside the igloo create superb calmness.
Complementing the awareness that the snow wall is a 1m thick -- it takes the villain
some time to reach you and first he or she needs to find a sharp shovel.
of cold and protection against it -- i had 3 *light swings* and a layer of sheep skin
underneath me, there‘s no hope without sheep skin, while the light swings isolated
majority of the temperature difference and created a soft white festive 3x3m bed. I‘d
say a family could fit. the opening in the roof is somewhat a problem as there‘s a slight
draft. on the other hand it‘s such a super luxurious experience to watch stars and
clouds. Visual lullaby.
...felt great waking up in the morning, hot coffee and fresh papers fit perfect :) getting
out of the sleeping bag discovered that a layer of ice had formed onto its outside
surface. The clothes which I‗d taken off before going to sleep were all wet. but I‘d put
my boots under the swings so they were all dry -- it didn‘t matter that they were cold as
i could put them on. Lesson learned -- sponsorship from decent sleeping
manufacturers needed + somewhere must be an air and sealable box for clothes and
boots.
and a DOOR must be designed! this hanging plastic joke has to be the last time :)
a reverse effect happened when street lighting was switched off at 7.30am -- normally
one switches the lights ON when waking up in the dark on a winter morning. All nightly
enchantment swept away in an instant, but woke me up indeed!‖
8.2.3. Kultuurituli installation by Veronika Valk showed the way in January 2006, with 250m
light beam pointed towards the clouds from Kultuurikatel‘s 85m high chimney, visible across
the city.
Kultuurikatel (transl. Culture Cauldron) in the former heating station on Tallinn waterfront is
becoming public space, as the industrial complex is converted into Estonia‘s biggest
creative hub. Located in meeting point of UNESCO-heritage Old Town and Tallinn seaside,
it manifests the controversial moment in the history of Estonia. Tallinn waterfront was
previously secluded as a military zone, however is now undergoing vast transformation.
Parts of the seaside, which used to be cut off from the city, are now given back to city
dwellers.
8.2.4. Installation Light Dome by Veronika Valk and Yoko Alender (Zizi&Yoyo), Winy Maas
(MVRDV), Rogier van der Heide (Arup Lighting) had an ambition to experiment with
architectural ―light therapy‖ in public space in 2005. Since almost half of local population in
Estonia suffers from SAD (Seasonally Adjusted Disorder syndrome) then the Light Dome
tested the possibility for an architectural installation to operate as a mood moderator. White
meteorological balloons formed a light reflective particle cloud, allowing to interpret the
cupola as a fog screen above the city that could radiate light downward during the dark
winter days.
8.3. Urban Flora installation for Tallinn Old Town Days by Veronika Valk in collaboration with
Kavakava architects featured 12m high steel flower, propelling by wind. The reflective fabric
of the flower blossoms was woven from recycled illegal CDs which had been collected
during police raids to black markets.
10
Sample 9: Pleiades design proposition for a symbiotic mobile arts and sciences lab by
Veronika Valk consists of six 20‘ marine containers, aiming to act as an agent between art
and science in the public realm.
The structure is a tool for hybrid curricula of arts and sciences. Four containers constitute
the main structure and two additional serve as reception and outdoor exhibition area.
Containers are cut into two parts, the resulting 8 cubicles are assembled in a flexible way
such that they allow for site specific adjustment and adoption to local conditions. Clean
laboratory spaces provide work tables, shelving, storage and equipment to carry out bioart
and other projects, to experiment and test cross-disciplinary ideas.
Sample 10: Architecture workshops are beneficial research tools.

10.1. Synthonia workshop on synthetic biology by Veronika Valk in collaboration with the
Estonian Academy of Arts, Tallinn University of Technology and Tartu University explored
how the rapid advancement in the field of synthetic biology may significantly alter our
perception and habitation of the living environment of tomorrow.
The cell is a biological computer and ‗living materials‘ offer a new approach to building
materials. The workshop investigated, whether it is possible for our future buildings to share
some of the properties of living systems. Top scientists in the fields of biotechnologies
provided elaborate presentations on the topics of algorithmic architecture, scale and
structure, synthetic genomics, morphogenesis and visualization techniques. The lectures
were accompanied by hands-on laboratory practice, upon which master and doctoral level
students of architecture, design and new media proposed ideas projects for evaluation.
10.2. Linnahall workshop on gentrification in post-ideological urbanism was conducted in

collaboration with Oaas architects. Participants included design, architecture, film,
scenography and social sciences BA and MA level students.
Dream. Sense. Adapt. Feed. 5 visions for Linnahall. Let‘s imagine we‘re not just part of the
information society, but of a dream society characterised by reverie and a constant thirst for
dreams. While postmodernism and deconstructivism attempted to satisfy the intellect, today
we place more importance on the visual, spatial and tactile senses. Every individual -- just
like buildings -- may adapt to its environment within the constraints of its hereditary traits.
Adaptation is the primary process in bioevolution. Participants proposed adaptive re-use
scenarios for Linnahall concert hall. The building‘s future genetic code depends directly on
today‘s memes. The workshop asked, what protects structures such as Linnahall from its
own ideological legacy.
10.3. Hansalite workshop on innovative streetlighting and its energy efficiency in colder,
darker wintertime on Northern hemisphere by Veronika Valk asked the participants to
suggest illumination strategies and methods with strong environmental agenda, reducing
exploitation costs of lighting systems and increasing energy saving in streetlighting. Figure
3.
Rogier van der Heide from Arup Lighting kindly consulted a follow-ip event where one of the
proposals was realized as urban installation on Town Hall Square in Tallinn. Upon many
tests, various ―light domes‖ were created with diverse special effects depending on the
weather conditions, but also natural light cupolas were formed by fog, snow etc.
Experimenting with different sources of lighting, almost all available atmospheric
phenomena was integrated into the process. Results of the workshop have proved valuable
for similar festivals of light events in other cities.
10.4.: The focus of Forestart workshop Zizi&Yoyo architects Veronika Valk and Yoko
Alender in collaboration with NOD, Onix, Peter de Kan, Pavlov Media Lab, Kütioru Open
11
Studioswas on forestry, wood design and construction in Estonia where 50% of the country
is covered with forests, yet lots of speculative lumber-cutting takes place, setting forests and
their bio-habitats in danger.
Governmental institutions actively fight for remaining woods, re-planting huge areas with
thousands of new trees every year. The workshop proposed to include artists and designers
in re-forestation process. The on-site outdoor workshop was on one hand about inventing
and questioning the means of human intervention in natural settings. Secondly, as an
emergent form of environmental (land)art, it is also a framework for discussing the role of
nature and forests in contemporary spatial discourses, asking how can art and architecture
be present in nature without interrupting its functions. Wood construction technologies which
were explored at Forestart workshop might effectively contribute to the evolutionary
architecture of the future. Participating students had background in forestry, biology,
landscaping and design.
FINDINGS
―A big bang can come from a broomstick.‖ Lia Rajalo, 1984
As those samples present, action research involves the process of actively participating in
an architectural design or urban planning process whilst conducting research. Action
research in architecture and urbanism can also be undertaken by teams of other
professionals such as designers, scientists, engineers etc -- assisted or guided by
professional architects or urbanists as practice based researchers, with the aim of improving
their strategies, practices and knowledge of the environments within which they practice. As
a result, designers and stakeholders, architects as researchers propose a new course of
action to help their community improve its functioning.
The samples help to clarify where the contribution to existing knowledge emerges. Thus,
how to differentiate the scale and nature of a ‗big bang‘ in the context of an architectural
practice? What if the interest does not lie necessarily in ‗what the broom is meant to swipe‘,
but rather what the particular broomstick is made of and where the broom is kept (the
location where to rediscover it or to be aware of where the ‗big bang‘ might come from)? By
looking at ―substratum‖, we are investigating the ―biological bias‖ of architectural conduct.
Therefore, we are looking at the intrinsic drive of a practice, its aims at self-commissioning
certain research, and its instrumentality.
The projects mentioned above were born due to parallel processes of designing,
constructing, eventmaking, public discussion and so on, which transformed and fed into one
another, allowing for reflection on and development of design approaches. One can clearly
see that there exists a necessity for all of these operations -- design, construction, debate --
to occur simultaneously. Some of those occurring activities have a shorter cycle, some take
longer to complete. The notion of serendipity arrives with coincidental conflux of different
streams of activity.
Naturally, an experimental self-commissioning multi-modal practice must simultaneously

accommodate all of the mutating identities of different disciplines and cultural variations it
builds on, nurtured by ongoing accumulation of experience in crossing contexts. One helpful
strategy for the practice to stay alert to contextual shifts is d tournement, a term coined by
Guy Debord in The Society of the Spectacle. For an architecture practice to survive and for
its research to evolve, it is vital to continuously disrupt, divert, reroute, hijack the existing
systems.
12
Moreover, the architectural design orchestration makes its own history albeit not in
circumstances of its choosing. Each design effort as ―performance‖ takes place in a rich and
complex interpretative environment and the community plays as much a role in the building's
construction as the architect or other team members (engineers, artists, client, technicians
etc). In such ontogenesis, the building or spatial structure is not plotted down in the silence
of a drawing board but rather ‗workshopped‘ and on site, providing prompt notes to the
builders.
Gesture of Self-regulation
It is evident that practice‘s activities propagate through multiple instruments, such as those
of drawing, model- and eventmaking, texts etc -- like a word spoken in a variety of cases. In
an architectural practice, this metabolic body of diverse instruments (organic sets of devices,
toolkits for creative expression) with, upon and within which the designer operates, could be
called the practice‘s substratum (substrate). To preserve and develop a practice, is it
necessary to transform its structure, purpose or agenda, or is it a question of how to renew
its substrate, its instrumentality? Figure 4.
Specifically 'joyful' approaches to publicness in design activity are the focus of samples
provided. These approaches aim at enhancing public space, concentrating on the mutual
impact of microclimates and playfulness. The search for functional realities -- which not only
incorporate but indulge in, and build on, other disciplines, institutional, ideological and
structural processes --, guarantees that a multi-modal architectural practice becomes
protean. The benefits of protean practice come forward in the physical implementation of
[design] ideas, [architectural] concepts or [urban] scenarios: in the practice‘s ability to tease
visions into tenable, physical existence.
Methods of how [or in what way or to what extent] the venturous practice conceivably
contributes to the production of new knowledge are best evidenced by their ways to
enhance urban environments, to design public interventions that offer people opportunities
to develop varied possibilities of creative expression, catalyzing activities in a multitude of
stimulating ways. The goal of facilitating positive social change situates the practice in the
larger cultural, political, economic and social condition which might radically change over
time.
Closer look at samples reveals how a practice‘s substratum might shift in response to
contextual change and how practice maintains or continually re-invents itself to maintain its
authenticity in those crossed contexts. Critical links between the socio-economic paradigm
of ―deregulation‖ and the emergence, as well as erosion of, the post-capitalist condition,
point to the ―the scientific spirit of adventure — the adventure into the unknown, an unknown
which must be recognized as being unknown, to be explored‖ [Richard Feynman].
CONCLUSION (MODEL)
Speaking of practice based research, we might want to encourage the role of ―resource
architect,‖ a ―substratum engineer‖ and ―experimental self-commissioner‖ who is not limited
by existing protocols, and who enters the arena with nothing but creative intellect and the
will to generate change. There exist ways for architecture to refuse the regime of the market-
driven world – to overrule a rapidly expanding economic mindset that transformed nature
into a resource, urban space into investments, and ideas into consumerist spectacle. The
13
different modes of the architect‘s engagement -- of the field‘s impact on people‘s behavior --
may vary from sketching and diagramming to detailing, from organizing public debates to
construction work on building site. Figure 5.
REFERENCES
SCHAIK, L. V. 2003. The Practice of Practice: research in the medium of design, Melbourne,
RMIT University Press.
SCHAIK, L. V. 2005. Mastering Architecture: Becoming a Creative Innovator in Practice

(Architecture in Practice), John Wiley and Sons.
SCHAIK, L. V. 2008. Spatial Intelligence: New futures for architecture, Chichester, UK, John
Wiley & Sons.
SCHAIK, L. V. 2011. The Evolution of the Invitational Program in Design Practice Research. In:
SCHAIK, L. V. & JOHNSON, A. (eds.) By Practice, By Invitation: Design Practice Research at

RMIT. Melbourne: onepointsixone.
SCHAIK, L. V. & SPOONER, M. (eds.) 2010. The Practice of Practice 2: Research in the
Medium of Design, Melbourne: School of Architecture and Design, RMIT University.
STAMM, M. 2007. Topoi of Indeterminacy. In: BALMFORTH, S. & REINMUTH, G. (eds.)

Terroir: Cosmopolitan Ground. Sydney: DAB Documents, University of Technology Sydney.
STAMM, M. 2011. Constellating Creativity RMIT University GRC Keynote Address.
VAN SCHAIK, L. & JOHNSON, A. (eds.) 1012. The Pink Book. By Practice By Invitation.,
Melbourne: Onepointsixone.
Figure 1
14
Generosity through evoking spatial dramaturgy by diversion. Monument for composer E.Tubin in
Tartu, Estonia. Winning competition entry in 2004, completion in 2005. Client: Tartu City.
Architect: Veronika Valk. Sculptor: Aili Vahtrapuu. Sound designer: Louis Dandrel
Figure 2
Lasva water tower conversion into gallery and info-point. Located in Lasva parish, Võru county,
Estonia. Concept offered to the client (local municipality) in 2005. Completion of construction in
August 2009. Architect: Veronika Valk. Team: Kadri Klementi (technician), Kalle-Priit Pruuden
(sculptor), Kalle Tikas (sound engineer), Peeter Laurits (artist).
Figure 3
Publicness in practice. Integrative, inclusive and contextual public art installations as

instruments to catalyze urban change.
15
Figure 4
Practice substrate diagram with open-ended definitions for its operatives.
Figure 5
Multimodality in Practice.
16
Architecture- Profession - Education
Mehmet Kutukcuoglu
Teget Mimarlik
[email protected]
Born in Brugg, Switzerland in 1967. He graduated from METU Architecture Faculty in 1989. At the same year he
started his master studies in Switzerland and got his master's degree from Los Angeles Sci-Arch Architecture School
in 1992. Before returning Turkey in 1996, he worked with a lot of famous architects such as Calatrava, Gehry,
Johnson & Favaro in ABD and Switzerland. He got 'Los Angeles Empirical Opera House, The Best Theses Award'
and 'Austin House, Chamber of American Architects Construction Award' during his works in ABD. 'Bandırma Cin
Çukuru City Center Architectural Project Competition, First Prize' became the first award of the company, followed by
lots of awards in many national, international and invited competitions. As well as his currently professional works of
architecture, Kütükçüoğlu goes on giving courses in Bilgi University, Yıldız Technical University and ITU alternately.
He also have lots of articles published in local and foreign issues.
Offices and cityscape:
As a spatial occupancy the offices of white collar workers shape the three dimensional form of
cities. Central business districts of the cities house a massive space of offices, like cathedrals
of work, business and production. This can be read if we make an imaginary cut over NYC. The
office spaces of White collar production form the backbone of the spatial and economic growth
of the cityscape.
Professional specialization:
The background of such an endless production of workspaces can be read through the
professional specialization, the endless mitosis of professions that date back to the history of
civilization. The branching of the professions increase in complexity rooting from philosophy to
numerous branches of professions. Architecture is also a discipline rooting from art, crafts,
engineering and is now evolving to a more multi-disciplinary platrform. Collaboration rises as a
key concept to manage the disciplines work and communicate with each other. The alienation
17
factor of diverse and atomized cloud of professions and the success of tecnological advances
for collaboration is worth questioning.
Architect’s changing role:
The architect‘s position has evolved from being a mason in the medieval cathedrals to that of a
artist of a genius in renaissence and the heroic figure of modern times in 20 th century. Builders
of the medieval cathedral had gathered the skills of an engineer, of a craftsman and the artist in
one set of mind. But now as specialization in the professional field disables any architect from
18
tangling with calculations , production, and building processes. The building is as far from the
architect as it can be.
Architect’s collaboration network:
The architects position is under constant change. It has departed from one that could design at
every scale from the smallest detail to the masterplan of a building to that of a point which
stands within a network of collaborators and orchestrating them. The decision power has shifted
from the central heroic character of the architect and is divided among a number of people
19
including architects, producers, engineers, consultants, fabricators, constructors, etc. The actors
in an architectural office also shifted, from the architect (as the designer) and the draftsmen (as
the realizers) has come to an end. The elaboration among the architecs as landscape
designers, concept designer, design developer, model maker, etc. forms another platform of
inter-disciplinary teamwork.
In such a divided network of collaborators, the real thing has become the communication and
the management of this colaboration among figures.
Architects and Engineers:
Structural, mechanical, electrical enginners all have a working palette separate from the
architectural drawing. The way of flow of design decisions are stuck in a one way agglomeration
of authority. The architect is either the untouchable author of the undiscussible work of art that
the enginneers follow. Or is the source of irrational demands to manipulate design the project
for the engineer. The relationship between architectsand the engineers can be read a s a skilful
performance of compromises. The technology of computer aided design tools have shifted this
communication starting from CAD. But the two dimensionality seems to be insufficient in
juxtaposition of drawings from the architect and the enineers installations. The building
information modeling (BIM) breaks this two dimensionality and perfroms a 3D simulation of the
building before it is constructed. The relationship still cannot be a truly collaborative and
reflective one.
Technolohy as a tool for coordination: BIM
The role of the representation medium plays an important role in the communication among
such disciplines. BIM Technologies promise to act as a bridge among architects, engineers and
fabricators. The three dimesnional central file that all of these collaborators can use at the
same time eliminate the loss of information through stages of design and production. This
tecnology can be seen as the digital reunification of disciplines. On the other hand the
limitations of this medium can also be questioned.
20
21
Reflections: Practice and theory
The promise of BIM in the professional media of practicing architects has also become a
question in the academic education of the architect. The beaux-arts tradition was more inclined
to educate the architects to become draftsmen who become the apprentice of a master after
graduation. Integrated design programs in universities follow the demand of the professional
practice and model a professional life in studios. The views on the reflections of practice and
education are two sided. While some universities see the use of BIM software as a training of a
skill rather than an education, while practitioners see the academia as a source of trained
employees that the industry can manipulate according to needs. These two different
approaches well define the dilemma of reflection of practice on architectural education.
22
In this respect the a metaphor model making approaches of architects and enginners is
convenient to mention. Architects prefer to make retinal models that visually reproduce the
artefact in a smaller scale. While engineers aim to rescale the real material behaviors to a
smaller model while reproducing a mockup of the real structure. The change in the molecular
absolute scale of the materials should be taken as prinicples of remodelling the professional
practice in the academy. The potential of reflection among practice and academy should be the
remodeling of these principles.
Design as Checklist:
Both the educational models and the design process usin BIM cannot escape from a checklist of
design steps. The design process gets more involved in the digital software that gathers all the
design, engineering and production data in one body. The complexity of the model and the
collaborators getting involved need a checklist to control the overall picture. Here the approach
to the design inclines to a pragmatic solution oriented checklist. Here the question of poetry and
sense of place in architecture is critical. How can the architect (or in this case collaborators) can
involve the search of poetics of space in the design process with BIM? How can this be possible
when the design is dowgraded to a checklist?
23
The masterpiece:
The aim of the checklists is to control the end product under the safe guaranty of the model
produced by collaborators. the building comes as close as possible to real before construction.
The motivation of the collaborators shift from the physical production and sense of the end
product to that of the simulated model in BIM. Such an approach also guarantees a masterpiece
as a lossless end model.
As Koolhaas states the shortage of masters has not stopped a proliferation of masterpieces. In
the case of BIM strengthens the guarantee of a masterpiece. As the end product become more
calculable, more controllable through checklists, the question of poetry remains as a forgotten
phenomenon in the design process and realization of the project.
REFERENCES
- DEUTSCH, RANDY, (2011). BIM and Integrated Design: Strategies for Architectural Practice
- GARGIANI, ROBERTO, (2008). OMA Essays in Architecture, Junkspace, Routledge
- KOSTOF, SPIRO, (2000). The Architect: Chapters in the History of Profession, University of
Califoria Press
- NERDINGER, WINFRIED, (2012). Der Architect, Gesshichte und Gegenwart eines

Berufsstandes, Prestel Verlag
24
- SCHÖN, DONALD A. (1984). The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think In Action,
Basic Books Publishing
- http://gsappworkflow2010.wordpress.com/anh-minh-ngo-studio-diagram/, amn Practice

Diagram (Fig.18)
- http://erlandr.com/tag/bim/ , BIM Maturity Model, Mark Bew and Mervyn Richards, 2008
(Fig.13)
25
26
27
28
Similarities and differences: architecture and the

disciplines of art, design and construction
Hybrid Buildings Celebrate the Collective Realm: Design

Research at the TU Delft
Olindo Caso
TUDelft - Faculty of Architecture, Netherlands
[email protected]
Olindo Caso, architect, is a lecturer at the Faculty of Architecture, TU Delft (NL). He is the coordinator of the first year
of the Architecture MSc Hybrid Buildings. His research activity focus on the urban valence of architectural
interventions and the architecture of infrastructure. He runs his own design office.
Roberto Cavallo
TUDelft - Faculty of Architecture, Netherlands
[email protected]
Roberto Cavallo is an architect and associate professor at the Faculty of Architecture, TU Delft (NL). He is co-founder
of Studio-AI (Amsterdam), responsible for the MSc in Architecture Hybrid Buildings and one of the main actors in the
Architecture research program. His various scientific publications are ranging from the urban to the architectural
project.
Abstract
The master course Hybrid Buildings at the Faculty of Architecture, Delft

University of Technology, The Netherlands (http://www.buildingtypology.nl/), is
running since 10 years being a precursor in pursuing research and design of
―hybridity‖ as a currently meaningful architectural position.
The TU Delft Hybrid Buildings approach investigates mainly a threefold research
& design domain:
The architectural intervention as urban intervention: disciplinary hybrid
(architecture + urbanism);
The programmatic complexity as added value: the functional hybrid;
Architectural language as synthesizing system: the expression of the hybrid
building.
What distinguishes the approach of the TU Delft Hybrid Buildings studio from
other approaches is especially the focus on the value of the architectural design
project as Urban Architecture, as a contribution to the city and its under laying
cultural dimension.
In doing this we aim to investigate the moyenne durée behind the architectural
intervention fitting the continuity of the city plan / idea. Indeed, urban structures
are, more often than not, lasting. They are meant for the long term and need,
rather than rejection, consolidation and thoughtful adaptation.
Other schools and researchers pay otherwise more attention to the inherent
programmatic complexity of hybrid buildings and to their technical machinery
29
supporting complex configuration to work better and/or instantly react to changes

(building physics).
The paper reports the recent experiences in the design studio by discussing
students‘ work on the case-study area Parool Triangle in Amsterdam East,
bringing forward the actuality of the TU Delft Hybrid Buildings approach for the
development of consolidated urban areas.
Key words: hybrid buildings, design research, building as catalyst, building and
urban context, Parool.
Introduction
In architecture, hybrid building is a concept-container that accommodates a variety of -often
contrasting- interpretations. According to own position and needs, every designer can fit into it
because this concept implies the loosening of the relationships between form and content.
Indeed, hybrid buildings are receiving increasing attention in contemporary architectural debates
and practices, attempting the escape from the traditional but arid binomial form-function by
addressing ‗multi-purpose‘ buildings. Rather than looking for mere programmatic solutions,
hybrid buildings offer updated answers to our way of living, working and entertaining. Current
issues like intensification / optimization of land uses, densification of programs, re-vitalization,
economic feasibility of urban plans, are most recurring urban conditions that hybrid buildings
tackle with.
However, the possible risks related to the rise of the hybrid building should not be
underestimated. An example is the ‗Fuck Context‘ approach, neglecting long-lasting urban
developments and jeopardizing the representation and the continuity of civic values., The
design of hybrid interventions, instead, should reflect on the urban values and on the position
buildings take in the historical development of the city.
This paper will firstly describe the master specialization Hybrid Buildings (HB) at the Faculty of
Architecture (BK) of the Delft University of Technology (TUD). Secondly, a discussion will follow
on the hybrid building within the specific ‗urban architecture‘ orientation of the studio. Finally
students‘ design experiences will be presented.
Genesis
The master specialization HB is running for more than 10 years at BK, TUD, being a precursor
in pursuing research and design of ―hybridity‖ as a currently meaningful architectural position.
In 1999 a study programme ‗The Architectural Intervention‘ was started to clarify the mutual
relationships between (urban) architectural research and design education feeding a number of
research & design studios. In this framework, the studio ‗Hybrids: urban architecture between
centre and periphery‘ aimed to investigate the interdependency of urban transformations and
changes in building typologies.
At that time the hybrid building was already mentioned by Koolhaas (1978) and known through
the researches of Steven Holl and Joseph Fenton (1985), whose studies on the development of
the urban block in the American city pointed out the relationships between the rise of the hybrid
building and the constraints of the city grid.
30
Building forth on these precedents, the research & design studio ‗Hybrids‘ published two books2
defining the contours of the architectural research on this topic and presenting the related
outputs in terms of (graduation) projects.
Agenda
The master specialization HB builds up on research & design issues developed through this
experience. The agenda posed at the centre of the debate the relationship between
architectural interventions and urban transformations involving several critical aspects like:
1. The architectural intervention as urban intervention: disciplinary hybrid;

2. The programmatic complexity as added value: the functional hybrid;
3. Architectural language as synthesizing system: the expression of the hybrid building.
1. The studio addresses the urban questions linked to the rise and development of the hybrid
building. The goal is finding architectural answers to the problematic posed by the current urban
conditions. The projects do not propose a new type of city or urban structure but confer new
meaning to the existing ones, reacting to the inflexibility of zoning approaches when facing the
demands of density, usability, spatial economy or liveliness. In this way the hybrid building
supports the re-foundation of the existing city updating and merging its long lasting social and
cultural values. The failure in recognizing the mutual relationship between the guiding city
structures (from history) and architectural interventions opens the door to the absolute generic,
preparing implicitly the ground for speculative interventions and (potentially) wasting
consolidated (urban) values.
2. The inherent complexity of the hybrid intervention finds an additional dimension in the urban
nature of the hybrid project. According to Leen van Duin ―hybrid buildings distinguish
themselves from the conventional typologies due to the complex combination and interweaving
of different functions, spatial types and constructive systems. In this way they facilitate a web of
new relationships anticipating on a culture of rapidly changing coalitions between all types of
social organizations. They leave room for eventual unpredictable changes in accommodation
requirements. Not the final product, but a strategy dominates the design brief: the goal of finding
a clear pattern for each situation‖3. As the hybrid building should be conceived according to
open-end and strategic thinking, a degree of genericity in the architectural approach is needed
in order to activate confrontations with the specific urban conditions. This approach also
2
Van Duin & Van Wegen (eds., 1999); Van Duin et al. (eds., 2001).
3
Van Duin (2001). English translation by authors.
31
introduces ‗time‘ as a design variable, in terms of providing the conditions for future
accommodation of changing programmes.
3. Following the previous points, hybrid buildings are artefacts of urban architecture and should
therefore lend their own identity from their urban embedding rather than from the building
programme (the functions). In other words, the functionalist assertion saying that a building
should show its content loses significance in the described case of hybrid buildings. As the
programme cannot (any longer) be the source of unity and the inspiring principle for the formal
design of the building, which feature can take over this role instead?
Specificity
The Hybrid Buildings master specialization is concerned with the challenges and threats caused
by the growing pressure on urbanised areas. These are even more relevant in places like the
Dutch city, where the scarcity of land goes together with a strong demand of buildings. This
condition may lead to speculative operations threatening (cultural) urban legacies. Optimization
and exploitation of available resources becomes a hot issue: how to realise more with less? In
the meantime, how to realize urban quality defending cities from alienation? How to maintain
specificity in a world of increasing (although often necessary) genericity?
Peculiar for the Hybrid Building programme is therefore the attention to the urban dimension of
the hybrid intervention4, privileging its potential as ‗urban maker‘, as catalyst able to lead urban
transformation. The architectural intervention is considered as a strategic tool to induce urban
development. The design of (hybrid) buildings should reflect on their urban significance and on
the position they take in the historical development of the place. Therefore research on cities
and their history is an important component of the program.
One of the aims is investigating the moyenne durée5 behind the continuity of the city plan / idea.
Indeed, urban structures are, more often than not, lasting. They are meant for the long term and
need, rather than rejection, consolidation and thoughtful adaptation. But how to conciliate this
desired ‗slowness‘ with the courte durée, the rapid changes in programmes and fashions?
Which architectural intervention fits the urban plan by allowing programmatic ‗open-ending‘
while still retaining identity and architectural definition? Which kind of building corresponds to
this state of ‗multi-purposeness‘?
Steven Holl (Fenton, 1985) has made a pertinent distinction between the hybrid building en the
multifunctional mega-structures of the middle of the 20th century. While these mixed-use large
structures postulated the rise of a new kind of city, hybrid buildings are characterized by ―an
individual form supporting the underlying pattern of the city grid‖. Fenton (1985): ―It is crucial to
stress that hybrid buildings stand differentiated from other multiple function buildings by scale
and form. The scale is determined by the dimension of a city block within the orthogonal grid.
The form is a direct result of the late Nineteenth century technical innovations such as structural
framing, the elevator, the telephone, electrical wiring, central heating and ventilation systems …
The hybrid type was a response to the metropolitan pressures of escalating land values and the
constraints of the urban grid … The buildings became taller, larger than ever before. Its only
constraints were the zoning ordinances and the orthogonal grid itself‖.
4
Obviously, the design studio approaches all aspects of architectural design including building technology. In this
paper we want to enlighten the specific attention of the studio towards the urban dimension of the architectural
intervention.
5
We borrow this terminology from Fernand Braudel and we apply it to the ‗times‘ that are proper of city development.
32
Although Fenton referred to the specific case of the American city and to the urban debate of
the 1980s, its transposition to other cases and to the current urban debate remains valid.
Indeed, hybrid buildings are architectural objects – not vague structures. They derive the reason
of their existence from the existing city. They show the potential of urban places of acquiring
new meanings, catching-up with current (social) demands without losing identity. Hybrid
buildings are par excellence architectural answers to urban developments6.
In the prologue to a recent publication on this topic (Fernandez Per et al., 2011), Steven Holl,
rethinking the 1985 Pamphlet, attempts actualizations by looking at current dynamics. This time
the Chinese case becomes relevant, with its ‗hyper-urbanization‘ and millions of people moving
into urban areas. ―Instead of developers building huge, bland apartment buildings without
service programs of public space, new building types are needed. These new hybrid types can
shape public space. Urban porosity is a key intention for large hybrid buildings with the aim of
pedestrian oriented urban places. Each new public space formed by hybrid buildings contains
living, working, recreation and cultural facilities. ... They become localized ‗social condensers‘
for the new communities‖.
A third generation of hybrid buildings is indeed emerging. After the old, traditional combinations
like house + shop / atelier, common to many ages and cultures, and after the American type of
hybrid, with its gigantism in scale and dense internal complexity (annexation of the tower to the
block, as Koolhaas explains, 1978), the new generation seeks architectural answers to the
newer urban conditions. When we look at the reality, there is little doubt that the role of the
building as catalyst, ‗social condenser‘ for communities, should be put forward more than ever
before. Political and economic developments increase the pressure on (public) building
programs. With governments increasingly withdrawing, disengaging from both (cultural) local
infrastructure and public space quality, the hybrid building of the 21st century must re-establish a
healthy balance between people and places, between buildings and public space. Furthermore,
digitalization has brought a less physical context of action for many matters, blurring boundaries
between public and private and between time and space, but tremendously reinforcing at the
same time the need for spatial specificity and encounter (Caso, 1999). Smart hybrid
combinations (buildings and functions) can help to realize sustainability, both at the level of
energetic consumption / waste and at the socio-economic level. This decision is not merely
speculative: which combination will better profit of each other‘s potentialities?
It is not anymore just a question of scale, of bigness, but rather of appropriateness and
engagement. A hybrid building of the third generation is not necessarily a big, bulky object
absorbing liveliness and complexity into it. Scale will keep playing a role, particularly in
developing countries, still busy with large-scale phenomena and an economy of quantities.
Surely this is not the case of most existing European cities, already entered into an economy of
qualities. Here the hybrid building serves the city, clarifying its structure and generating in a
balanced way quality on public space outside and inside itself. This building holds an own
identity, but in connection with the ‗group‘ to which it belongs. The essence of the third
generation hybrid building is its vocation of being collective in many ways.
Preferred locations for this hybrid building are empty spots, gaps into the existing cities that
have the potential to be re-functionalized or optimized in order to increase the performances of
the place, keeping an eye on the (economic) sustainability of the intervention. These areas can
be found not only within the urban-block grid, but also where existing gaps can be recognized
and filled-in without denying the possible re-use of existing constructions. The city must be then
considered as an objective fact, able to offer precious material for the intervention.
6
Engel, H. (2001).
33
Is the distinction made by Fenton (1985) in Graft, Fabric and Monolith hybrids7, still helpful in the
third generation? This is probably the case, although this incomplete classification8 contradicts
his own conclusions about the basic anarchism of the hybrid building: ―The determination of
program and form advanced by typological models of the urban environment appears merely
nostalgic in the presence of hybrid buildings which defy the categorization by building type (…)
Hybrid buildings are the triumph of ingenuity and daring of their designers. The architect‘s
individual input is evident in the specificity with which each building responds to its program and
site. The combinations are limitless. What is offered by the hybrid building is a practitioner‘s tool
for dealing with the intricacies of the Twentieth Century city‖. Surely, the distinction between
Fabric Hybrids (built using the same elements composing the city and thus merging into it) and
Monolith Hybrid (just the exception to the city rules) seems still to be the most relevant as long
as we focus on the relationship between building and urban space / public space9.
Case Study
At the HB Design Studios students are confronted with the above described problematic. The
case studies chosen for the design exercises make possible the study on new relationships
between architectural interventions and urban developments within urban contexts strongly
looking for new meanings. We have found in the Parool Triangle in Amsterdam a representative
case study in which the intertwining between architectural intervention and urban space can
deliver interesting answers and challenging future scenarios. We decided to propose this case
study as design exercise in the Hybrid Buildings MSc1 studio. The original layout of the Parool
site is indeed an example of the negative reading of the complicated relationships between
buildings and urban space caused by their reciprocal detachment.
In these situations the recurring modus operandi was usually a radical one: tabula rasa.
Demolishing the existing buildings and substituting them with new interventions create a
whitewash new situation, clearing off the heritage of previous histories / identities. Indeed, the
‗Parool Triangle‘ shows an enormous potential waiting to be freed by thinking architectural
place-dedicated interventions. In this framework we would like to draw particular attention to
design approaches that emphasize in different ways this elective role of the third generation of
hybrid buildings.
Parool Triangle
The Parool Triangle is an area in Amsterdam along the Wibautstraat. The area lends its
triangular shape from a former railway junction, and its name from the highest building in the
area, once headquarter of the Amsterdam based newspaper ‗Parool‘.
7
Graft hybrids reflect the programme showing in this way the content of the building. It results often in a sort of
designed patchwork. Fabric hybrids are conceived as part of the urban fabric. They are ‗the affirmation of a form and
its envelope and the subsequent relegation of the program to an inconspicuous appearance of the building‘. Monolith
hybrids are bigger and larger, loosening themselves from the city fabric acquiring a more monumental meaning even
beyond their size.
8
According to Engel (2001), the classification made by Fenton adopts two criteria at the same time. On the one hand
he considers the way in which the exterior aspect of the building refers to the programme. At the other hand,
however, he also addresses the relationships of the hybrid with the urban situation. By reporting these 4 dimensions
in a 2x2 matrix (expressive/neutral on one axis and block/tower on the other one) 4 possible combinations can be
obtained: the neutral block (Fabric), the neutral tower (Monolith), the expressive tower (Graft) and a fourth
combination that Fenton does not consider, the expressive block. As an example of this fourth category Engel
mentions Aalto‘s Culture Centre in Wolfsburg.
9
As already remarked by Engel (2001).
34
The transformation of the area from railway junction into urban site begun in the 1930‘s when, in
order to solve the infrastructural problems in the eastern area of Amsterdam, part of the railways
was demolished, including the terminus station Weesperport, relocating the remaining tracks on
a dyke. The left over areas remained as an empty gap within the already urbanized
surroundings.
The general expansion plan (AUP) of Cornelis van Eesteren (1934) shows the new destinations
for the area. The scar of the former railway yard had to become a new wide avenue, the
Wibautstraat, the new entrance to Amsterdam from the southeast. The areas around the former
Weesperpoort station and the Triangle were filled in with a pattern of residential buildings.
Realizations on the Triangle only took place after World War II, in the framework of the post-war
reconstruction. The Corbusian craftsmanship school (1956) was designed by architect J.B.
Ingwersen and is now on the list of municipal monuments. Two years before, the architect
Berghoef had already realised five housing blocks along the railway track (1954). Finally, the
buildings of the newspapers Parool and Trouw, designed by Van den Broek & Bakema (1969-
1974), completed the occupancy of the area. The headquarter of the newspaper De Volkskrant
was built in 1965 on the other side of the Wibautstraat, following a design of the Rotterdam
based architecture firm Kraaijvanger.
35
The time-distance among the surrounding 19th century city, the Van Eesteren plan, and the final
infill given to the Parool Triangle in the 60‘s and 70‘s, resulted in a multi-layered urban setting
where the differences in architectural approaches are easily legible. More important is to remark
the differences in urban paradigms laying at the basis of the mentioned interventions. As the
19th century developments in the area, still following the rule of blocks and streets, adapted their
morphology to the existing infrastructure, Van Eesteren tries to inject the garden city idea into
this setting, pointing out the new Wibautstraat as the carrier of the new city structure. In the
actual realization the relationship between buildings and public space is functionally determined.
The position of the buildings on the site has very little to none reference with both the 19th
century surrounding area and the Wibautstraat boulevard. Moreover, the relationship with the
garden city ideals of Van Eesteren‘s AUP also disappeared somewhere between the ‗50‘s and
the ‗70s.
Problematic and Assignment

This clash among the morphology of the Parool triangle and the other features of the area is at
the same time the problem and the challenge, asking for a new interpretation of the relationship
between different paradigms in urban architecture.
The newspapers headquarters left the area between 2004 (Parool) and 2007 (Volkskrant and
Trouw). In 2008 a dedicated project-office was set up to give direction to the many plans
regarding the Wibautstraat area, in order to turn the fragmented en disordered-looking
Wibautstraat into a properly designed ‗Urban Boulevard‘. A new profile of this street, combined
with a number of (large and small) interventions along with it, should finally realize the original
intention of creating a street with allure, worth its role of entrance to the city.
Architect Joan Busquets designed a new masterplan for the Parool area. He had no doubts10:
demolition of all buildings on the site (excepting the Ingwersen‘s school – the monument) and
the realization of a high-density intervention at the new Wibautboulevard. The plan also
attempts to connect the long lines of the Oosterpark neighbourhood with the Wibautstraat and,
over the street, to the Amstel.
The recent economic uncertainties have made this plan not feasible. Complete clearance of the
site is not an option anymore and more sensitive interventions must be found. New design
strategies are needed building up on the current urban conditions. The task is therefore re-
qualifying the area by designing appropriate interventions able to realize a healthier balance
between buildings and public spaces. The site also needs to be re-functionalized in order to act
as a (socio-spatial) catalyst for future developments, balancing the relationship between people
and functions. Third generation hybrids seem to be very suitable to cope with these
requirements.
Design Projects
Many students‘ proposals elaborated for this case study show indeed a drive towards the design
of the building as a ‗social condenser‘ by researching the proper balance between the different
dimensions at stance: functions, users, communal interiors, public exteriors, density, (critical)
relationship with the underlying urban grid – still without giving up the ambition of realizing a
clearly legible building / ensemble. Quite remarkable is the attention of many students towards
10
The professional ability of Busquet is not under discussion here. His plan fitted very well the required programme,
but the changing conditions made the requirements no longer feasible.
36
the functioning / role of the building as a built artefact. This aspect of the proposals clearly rises
above the ambition of creating iconic buildings, wild dreams too often fascinating students as
well as their teachers. The position of the HB studio plays a clear educational role at this
concern. The selection of projects presented below intends to show the unity of goals within a
variety of approaches. The 2/3 of the building programme is common for all projects
(neighbourhood library and housing) while the remaining 1/3 can be decided by the student
according to own research and belief.
Alejandro Heredia Moreno (Mexico). This architectural intervention organizes a pattern of

public spaces at the local scale mediating them with the (city-scale) public space at the Wibaut
boulevard and related building fronts. The hearth of the composition is formed by the library hall,
designed as a connective indoor element between different kinds of public spaces. The library is
a collective space by itself – the sitting room of the neighbourhood. The collective dimension
informs other parts of the design as well, like the organization of dwellings and the relationships
between building and small public squares at the backside.
Mattias Svensson Lembke (Sweden). Two blocks strongly characterized by a neutral load-
bearing skin compose this design. Together with the Parool building, the two blocks realize an
urban composition able to form a recognizable public space (street), qualifying it as an urban
place. The mutual relationships between the collective interiors and the public space reinforce
the potential of ‗social condenser‘ of the intervention, inviting the Parool building to join the new
urban situation.
37
Jos Reinders (Netherlands). Prioritizing the urban scale, this proposal brings more spatial
definition into the location, especially concerning the definition of the city-square between Parool
building and boulevard. Peculiar for this project is the attempt to realize a higher interaction
between the Ingwersen‘s school and the library, through the creation of an elevated collective
open space giving entrance to both buildings and holding a strong relationship with library hall -
the spatial collective element structuring the composition.
Ruben van der Plas (Netherlands). The collective idea of this project lays in the ingenious
composition of different, specific functions within a well-defined building envelop. The functions
use each other‘s spatial characteristics and constraints turning them into their strengths. The
programme combination is smart in terms of energy consumption, as the surplus of heath
produced by the Turkish bathhouse and the swimming pool can be reused for the library and the
dwellings. The collective courtyard at the upper floor is designed as an energetically active
glasshouse.
38
Varun Kaushik (India). This project organizes and gives quality to the public space at location,
turning the present spatial un-definition into a quality place, reciprocally supporting buildings
functions and users. Peculiar of the design is the organization of routes and open spaces in the
area, a system that includes a living bridge above the Wibaut boulevard. This whole system
converges towards the main square between Parool building and boulevard, intended to be the
focal point of the neighbourhood.
Jos Neering (Netherlands). The proposal addresses another area of the Parool triangle than
most projects do. The 5 Berghoef‘s apartments buildings radially placed along the railway dike
form a series of (green) open courtyards, currently not much more than residual spaces
between the blocks. This project renews the now obsoleted apartments blocks unifying them all
under an undulated roof sheltering the courtyards as well. The courtyards becomes in this way
places for collective activities (including a market), suggesting at the same time the possibility of
a new public centrality between the Trouw building and the renewed blocks.
39
Mi Wang (China). This project plays on two different realms present in the area: the ‗boulevard
side‘ (large scale, velocity, heavy traffic, city) and the ‗domestic side‘ (neighbourhood scale,
green, local quality, slow traffic). By densifying the border between the two realms the project
creates a kind of ‗wall‘, freeing the vocations of the two sides of being treated and developed
consequently. A sloping element is then introduced as a green park complementing the
domestic side, while the boulevard side houses shops and larger scale activities and buildings.
Peculiar in this project is the living bridge above the boulevard. The bridge contains the library
and functions also as a green walkway between the green slope of the domestic side, the
boulevard, and the Amstel. The living bridge is treated as a collective artefact offering everyone
a brand new view on Amsterdam.
Hybrid Buildings Celebrate the Collective Realm

What is common to all these projects is an explicit vocation towards researching the collective
meaning in the in different design scales and in various ways.
40
Most evident of this desire of collectiveness in the designs is for instance the treatment of the
spaces of common action inside and outside of the buildings as collective places. The buildings
are often enriched by halls, passages, courtyards and internal streets, showing the desire of
giving a collective dimension to the hybrid buildings. When such an element is missing, its role
is taken over by a collective function in the building as for instance the lecture hall or a coffee
bar. At the same time, the public spaces outside buildings are also addressing the collective
realm, refusing the genericity of the word ‗public‘ and researching a specific role for it. The two
parts of this game enjoy often a reciprocal reinforcement through their continuity in space. The
public space extends in the building and otherwise, the building takes possession of the public
space.
The variety of functions inhabiting a hybrid building could be on itself understood as

collectiveness. Although only few projects fully approach the programmatic complexity of hybrid
configurations (as for instance Van der Plas does), the most proposals recognize the need of
structuring this complexity by designing internal buffers and shared spaces, imagining for them
a collective use. These spaces are often designed as internal squares and equipped to allow
users to stay. Staircases changes into tribunes, passages and streets acquire a double role.
The expression of most designed buildings could be referred to the Fabric Hybrid as described
by Fenton (1985). The source of inspiration for their design is very often found in the characters
of the surrounding urban structure and the meaning that the building wants to acquire in this
structure. This is another reading of the collective vocation of the projects. They hardly pose
themselves as strongly embedded icons of conflicting individuality, but reflect on the value of the
building as part of the collective heritage of the city and its inhabitants. These students prefer
friendly solutions derived by local characters. For this reason, Monolith hybrids and Graft
hybrids are virtually absent in the production of the students. Instead, some projects refer to the
fourth category (Expressive Fabric hybrids, that Fenton does not consider in his categorization)
that we already discussed (see note 9). This is probably due to the characteristics of the
assigned case study, although we believe that the context of the European city offers more
space for Fabric kinds of interventions than the American city.
Finally, it must be remarked that this collective vocation is not a given element of the MSc1
Design Studio. It is rather a conclusion to which many students arrive by reflecting on the topic
and designing their interventions. We, teachers and researchers, also learn from these
proposals and we attempt to link them into more general frameworks. Other readings emerge
from the projects, as the growing attention to ‗greenery‘ as a design material (Cavallo & Caso,
2012) or the research about the relationship between the generic floor plan and the specific
façade. For this paper we have selected a number of projects among the many dealing with the
collective idea. We have tried to underpin these concepts and place them into the (scientific)
debate on hybrid buildings.
Bibliography
BOCK, M.; V. VAN ROSSEM,; Z. HEMEL,; K. SOMER. Cornelis van Eesteren.

Architect/Urbanist. Rotterdam, NAI publishers, 2001
CASO, O. (1999). The city the elderly and telematics. Delft University Press, Delft.
CAVALLO, R. & O. CASO (2012). Design Research in an environment of change: the „green
approach‟ in urban regeneration. EAAE-ISUF Conference, Delft, October 2012. Conference
proceedings forthcoming.
41
DUIN, VAN L. & H. VAN WEGEN (eds., 1999). Hybrides. Stedelijke architectuur tussen centrum
en periferie. Delft University Press, Delft.
DUIN, VAN L. (2001). Onderzoeksatelier Hybrides: stedelijke architectuur. In: DUIN, VAN L.; H.
ENGEL, I. PANE‘ (eds., 2001). ―Hybride Gebouwen en Architectuur van de Stad‖. Delft
University Press, Delft.
DUIN, VAN L.; H. ENGEL, I. PANE‘ (eds., 2001). Hybride Gebouwen en Architectuur van de
Stad. Delft University Press, Delft.
ENGEL, H. (2001). Hybride gebouwen en architectuur van de stad. Typologische of distributieve

indifferentie? In: VAN DUIN, L.; H. ENGEL, I. PANE‘ (eds., 2001). ―Hybride Gebouwen en
Architectuur van de Stad‖. Delft University Press, Delft.
FENTON, J. (1985). Pamphlet Architecture n.11. New York / San Francisco. Distributed by
Princeton Architectural Press. Preface of Steven Holl.
FERNANDEZ PER, A.; J. MOZAS, J. ARPA (2011). This is Hybrid. a+t architecture publishers,
Vitoria-Gasteiz (E).
KOOLHAAS, R. (1978). Delirious New York. A Retroactive Manifesto for Manhattan. Thames &
Hudson, London.
LEEUW, VAN DER R. (2010). De Wibautstraat. Stadsboulevard of verkeersader? Student

research work, TUDelft. Plan Amsterdam 6-2010. DRO Amsterdam, Municipality of Amsterdam,
2010.
42
Toward a More Integrative Learning: Reconsidering the Scope

and Value of Liberal Education in Architectural Curricula
Derya Yorgancioglu
Istanbul Kemerburgaz University, Departmen of Architecture, Turkey
[email protected]
Derya Yorgancıoğlu is Assistant Professor of Architecture and Chairperson of the Department of Architecture,
Istanbul Kemerburgaz University School of Engineering and Architecture. She graduated as an architect from Yıldız
Technical University, Istanbul (2000). She received her M.Arch. (2004) and Ph.D. (2010) degrees in Architecture from
Middle East Technical University, Ankara.
Abstract
Today, at the beginning of the twenty first century, the debates on architectural
education meet on the common ground of ‗learner-centered education.‘ It is
argued that architectural education should cultivate in students values and
attitudes along with knowledge, skills and understanding, covered in but not
limited to a specific disciplinary area. Personal development of students is seen
as an essential educational goal. The 21st century architect is envisioned as a
person and a practitioner who is equipped with the ability to think and act in a
critical and reflective manner. It is emphasized that the objective of architectural
education could not only be to prepare students for the profession but to facilitate
their development as open-minded, socially responsive and creative individuals.
All these considerations point to the development of a broader educational basis
for professional specialization, and ‗liberal education as part of architectural
education‘ becomes a cornerstone for such an argument.
Starting from this consideration this paper proposes that we, as practitioners of
architectural education, need to grasp the philosophy of liberal education as
matter of endowing them with a breadth of understanding and a deeper insight
into the world, preconditions of intellectual freedom and social consciousness.
The unity of learning process should be emphasized and the ways a more
integrative learning can be realized should be discussed. How we can cultivate in
students the intellectual discipline they need to grasp the forces that shape
architectural problems and the competence to respond them in a critical and
creative manner should be raised as a key question. This paper underlines a
need to redefine and emphasize the scope and value of liberal education in
architectural curricula, as we are proceeding through curricular restructuring of
architectural education in reference to the Bologna reforms.
Key words: Architectural education, architecture curricula, liberal education,

integrative learning, higher education
―One of the great challenges in higher education is to

foster students‘ abilities to integrate their learning
across contexts and over time. Learning that helps
develop integrative capacities is important because it
builds habits of mind that prepare students to make
informed judgments in the conduct of personal,
43
professional, and civic life; such learning is, we

believe, at the very heart of liberal education.‖ (Marry
T. Huber and Pat Hutchings , 2004, p. 1)
Today, at the beginning of the twenty first century, the debates on architectural education meet
on the common ground of the idea that the primary educational goal should be cultivating in
students values and attitudes along with knowledge, skills and understanding. Emphasis is
placed on students‘ personal development as much as on their professional development. It is
argued that architectural education should not only prepare students for the profession, but
facilitate their development as open-minded, socially responsive and creative individuals, who
are able to think and act in critical and reflective manners. It is possible to locate these debates
of architectural education into the wider context of ongoing paradigm shift in the field of higher
education: a paradigm shift towards a learner-centered educational approach. An important
aspect of this educational approach is the growing emphasis placed on the need for a broader
educational basis for fulfilling the requirements of being an educated person in general. Liberal
education rests at the center of the discussions on the unity of specialized training and a broad
understanding.
The aim of this paper is to underline the validity of liberal education‘s philosophy as a matter of
endowing students with a breadth of understanding and a deeper insight into the world, which
is essential in reconsidering the goals of architectural education at a time when we are engaging
with new approaches to teaching and learning. This paper aims into bring into view the
potential role that liberal education can play in enhancing students‘ learning processes, during
and beyond their university education, and cultivating them with intellectual discipline and
capacities they need to grasp and respond the forces that shape architectural problems.
Certainly, this issue has both curricular and pedagogical implications. To design a broader and
balanced curriculum and reconsider how liberal arts courses can be integrated into architectural
curriculum can be a valid starting point for achieving this.
As we are currently restructuring curricula in our schools of architecture in reference to the

Bologna reforms, a reconsideration of the scope and value of liberal education in architectural
curricula seems highly relevant. It is well known that the transformation in European higher
education that was accelerated with the Bologna Declaration of 1999 for the articulation of ―an
overarching framework of qualifications for the European Higher Education Area‖ continues to
shape ongoing initiatives in architectural education in European countries including Turkey who
participated into the Bologna Process in 2001 (―Realising the European Higher Education Area‖,
2005, p. 4). In the Bologna Process the four major responsibilities of higher education are
defined as ―preparation for the labour market‖, ―preparation for life as active citizens in a
democratic society‖, ―personal development‖ and ―the development and maintenance of a
broad, advanced knowledge base‖ (―A Framework for Qualifications of the European Higher
Education Area,‖ 2005, p. 7). These educational goals point to the need to reconsider the
curriculum of bachelor programs through a more holistic framework. In consequence, as
pointed out by Carolin Kreber (2009), the central question to be addressed in higher education
becomes ―how academic learning within a particular disciplinary setting can help students
acquire the skills, abilities and dispositions they need to succeed academically, and also in their
professional, civic and personal lives‖ (Preface, xviii).
The need for new directions in student learning and for more inclusive and integrative learning
environments becomes more apparent as we are experiencing ―a changing world where
disciplinary and curricular isolation are neither feasible, nor desirable‖ (Huber, Hutchings, Gale,
Miller and Breen, 2007). More inclusive and integrative learning environments are needed for
44
students to develop as ―integrative thinkers and doers‖ (Leskes , Foreword, 2004, p. iv). What
does it mean for students to become ―integrative thinkers and doers‖? Students who are
―intentional about the process of acquiring learning, empowered by the mastery of intellectual
and practical skills, informed by knowledge from various disciplines, and responsible for their
actions and those of society‖ can be defined as ―integrative thinkers and doers‖ (Leskes ,
Foreword, 2004, p. iv). Why is it important for students to acquire such competences? In a
constantly changing world, the knowledge that students acquire at the university should be
constantly enhanced, and unless they have the ability to respond to change and growth they
can hardly adapt themselves to changing situations and needs. What is more, they have to
develop an understanding of other fields in order to take part in interdisciplinary and
collaborative efforts needed to solve complex problems confronting them.
From such a perspective, this paper points out that new strategies and practices -both curricular
and pedagogical- are needed in order to foster the development of integrative habits of thinking
and doing for students of architecture. This paper underlines the relevance and significance of
liberal education in architectural curricula. However, it should be clarified that the present paper
attempts neither to define the knowledge content of liberal education, nor to propose an
architectural curricula endowed with liberal art courses, both of which can be the subjects of
further collaborative research. Rather, the aim of the present paper is to explore the goals and
merits of liberal education that can guide our attempts to develop new ways of thinking about
learning and teaching architecture, which can help us reformulating our architectural curricula.
The paper approaches the issue from the broader perspective of higher education.
A traditional definition of liberal education is ―the cultivation of the intellect‖ (Newman, 1947, p.
107). Bailey (1984) argues that the essential goal of liberal education is ―liberating the person
who receives it,‖ and he goes on to underline that ―[w]hat the liberally educated person is
released for is a kind of intellectual and moral autonomy, the capacity to become a free chooser
of what is to be believed and what is to be done‖ (p. 19 and p. 21). Accordingly, liberal
education can be defined as ―a philosophy of education that empowers individuals, liberates the
mind from ignorance, and cultivates social responsibility‖ (―Greater Expectations: A New Vision
for Learning as a Nation Goes to College,‖ 2002). Intellectual freedom for personal and societal
empowerment seems to be the key issue.
For Green (1995), in the 21st century liberal education should be reconsidered in terms of an
―engaging pedagogy, a way of talking about what paths of learning are best suited‖ for the
development of whole personality of students (p. 243). Debra Humphreys, vice president of the
Association of American Colleges and Universities, reiterated the same line of thought when
she explained the educational goals of such an engaging pedagogy as ―creative thinking,
teamwork and problem solving, civic knowledge and engagement, ethical reasoning and action,
and synthesis and advanced accomplishment across general and specialized studies‖
(Humphreys, 2006, p. 3, cited in Mulcahy, 2009). The picture outlined here points to a
combination of subject-specific competences and generic competences for achieving the goals
of higher education. Where can liberal education be situated in such an outline?
It is possible to answer this question by exploring the particular conception, or an ideal, of

educated person that is envisioned through liberal education. A relevant elaboration of the ideal
of educated person is made by Mulcahy:
―Inspired by varying conceptions of a liberal education, the ideal of the educated person
has come to mean a person of intellectual formation, one who possesses knowledge in
depth and breadth, one who possesses the knowledge and skills of citizenship, and who
45
is respectful of others and caring toward them, and one who is enabled to engage in
thoughtful action.‖ (D. G. Mulcahy, 2009, p. 484)
The major characteristic of an educated person is the development of a disciplined intellectual

power that would allow lifelong intellectual growth and self-education. It is more about an
attitude towards seeking and acquiring new knowledge than about the content of knowledge. It
points to freedom of making choices and decisions about one‘s life, but it also underscores an
awareness of the results of one‘s actions on the lives of others and the broader society. Thus, it
signifies a social and ethical responsibility, too.
Kaplan‘s answer to the question of in which ways liberal education can help develop an ideally
educated person deserves to be mentioned:
― … A liberal education in this sense will provide the knowledge and power to identify
and accomplish goals and tasks. Such students will be able to take up their positions in
the working world, either by adapting their backgrounds to suit the demands of a certain
occupation or by creating new roles for themselves. A good general education is liberal
in the second sense that it provides the opportunities for growth and change throughout
an entire life, equipping students with the capacity to undertake alternative formulations
and to seek or create new learning…‖ (Kaplan, 1992, pp. 52-53)
The discussions on the relevance of liberal education for the 21st century higher education also
refer to the liberal and professional purposes of university education. The relationship between
the two is usually considered to be problematic, since the claim of liberal education to maintain
a holistic educational basis may seem to contradict with the priorities of professional
specialization. Development of personal qualities of the character on the one hand, and
development of competences specific to a particular profession on the other; are they
contradictory in the real sense?
Approaching the issue from an epistemic perspective, David Carr argues that liberal education:
―(i) should involve initiation into forms of knowledge and understanding that are
worthwhile for their own sake; (ii) such initiation should also be broad in scope and avoid
narrow vocational or professional specialisation; and (iii) such broad initiation should also
assist learners to grasp meaningful connections between diverse forms of knowledge,
explanation and truth…‖(Carr, 2009, pp. 3-4)
It would be a misinterpretation to say that liberal education negates any claim for professional
competence. However, it is also underlined that preparing students for their professional careers
cannot be the only goal of university education. Rather, liberal and vocational premises are
expected to complement each other in higher learning.
At this point Carr‘s reference to the concept of ―practical wisdom‖, or phronesis, would provide
a useful context for addressing in which ways liberal and vocational premises of higher learning
can complement each other. As an Aristotelian concept, phronesis is ―‗itself an end,‘ namely
‗good action‘‖; it is ―the capacity to pursue the good‖ (Wall, 2003, p. 317 and p.319). Referring to
Aristotle‘s definition of phronesis, Carr (2009) argues that practical wisdom is ―exhibited in
contextually sensitive and informed judgment‖ (p. 11). This implies a virtue of human character,
a virtue that would guide the decisions of students, in every stage of their lives, and motivate
them to search for good, for individual or communal wellness. In Carr‘s view (2009) ―all
professional groups – especially those who work with people – require their own occupational
phronesis, and that any proper cultivation of this needs to draw on a wider liberal education
46
more than a narrower vocational training‖ (p. 12). Cultivation of practical wisdom as a personal
and professional virtue, thus, becomes essential for developing critical attitudes needed to
arrive at sound value-judgments; these judgments can be about the professional or academic
career, as they can also be about the life in general.
The above mentioned theme related with liberal education may lead us to reflect upon the civic
engagement of a liberally educated person; in other words, the claim to prepare students for
their civic lives. Related debates also touch upon civic development as one of the goals of
liberal education. What is the relationship between liberal virtues and civic virtues?
Mulcahy (2009) tries to answer this question with reference to the ―Jeffersonian and American
perspective on liberal education, namely, its connection with democracy and democratic
citizenship‖ (p. 467). According to this perspective, ―democracy depends upon an educated
citizenry,‖ in which all citizens are considered to be ―equal and educable‖ (Mulcahy, 2009, p.
468). The envisioned education was a kind of civic education of masses, as opposed to
traditional conception of liberal education as an education for elite or gentlemen. It can be
argued that the civic claim of liberal education resides in the development of students as
conscious of their individuality by endowing them with critical and reflective thinking and a sense
of responsibility and personal capability of playing part in the formation of a democratic society.
These claims of liberal education evidently echoed Deweyan ideals of democratic education;
ideals that aimed at building of students‘ moral and civic character by emphasizing their
development as socially conscious individuals and members of a democratic society.
It would not be a misinterpretation to say that at the center of the discussions on liberal
education for intellectual cultivation and for the development of open-minded and socially
responsive individuals rests a learner-centered educational approach. This implies a pursuit for
the development of individuality as a whole, in which students‘ needs and their capacity to learn,
and to integrate their learning, is given more emphasis than subject content of education. As
underlined by Mulcahy (2009), ―education of the whole person brings into play emotional, moral,
and spiritual formation, and adopts a pedagogical stance that gives full recognition to the
experience, capacities, and interests of the individual‖ (p. 484). Education for the whole person,
as Mulcahy puts it, entails a learning process in which students play active roles. A self-directed
and reflexive learning in which students can make meaning of their experiences is at the core of
this process. Therefore, the ability of students for ―integrative learning‖ entails ability for
―intentional learning‖ (Huber and Hutchings, p. 5). An intention and willingness to learn is
prerequisite of integrative learning, for connecting knowledge, skills and understanding from
diverse sources and experiences. Students need to ―approach learning with high levels of self-
awareness, understanding their own processes and goals as learners and making choices that
promote connections and depth of understanding‖ (Huber and Hutchings, p. 6). This is about
learning how to learn and is a key towards achieving lifelong-learning.
The necessity of designing and developing higher education programs capable of responding to
the growing complexity and changing needs of today‘s society seems to be the driving force of
ongoing initiatives to actualize change in architectural education. The attempts to redefine the
overarching goals of higher education provide a wider and generative perspective through which
we can better define the profile of our graduates as future architects as good designers
endowed with a comprehensive and interdisciplinary understanding of architecture, the abilities
of critical and creative thinking as well as the attitudes and values needed to think and act in a
socially responsive and responsible manner in their future professional or academic studies.
These graduate outcomes go far beyond specialized knowledge, skills, and understandings;
they are more comprehensive, and they should be achieved in order to address the notions
47
such as ―employability‖, ―personal development planning‖ and ―a socially responsible citizenry‖

that are defined as the overarching goals of higher education in the 21st century (Kreber,
Preface, 2009, xvii).
This paper attempted to underline that ―integrative learning‖ is a key competence that students
of architecture should acquire in order develop as architects endowed with the graduate
outcomes of the 21st century. Attention was called to liberal education and the ways it can help
students develop as competent individuals and professional practitioners.
Evidently, to reconsider liberal education as part of architectural curricula is a multifaceted

issue. The question of how to foster integrative learning through changes in architectural
curricula concerns not only the curricular content, but also the way the content of architectural
education is taught. Thus, to develop new strategies for integrative teaching and integrative
learning in architectural education are major challenges facing us today. Further research needs
to consider the liberal education content of architectural curricula and its implications for
teaching architecture.
REFERENCE LIST
Association of American Colleges and Universities, ―Greater Expectations: A New Vision for
Learning as a Nation Goes to College,‖ 2002, http://www.greaterexpectations.org./ (accessed
May 10, 2010).
Bailey, C. 1984. Beyond the Present and the Particular. A Theory of Liberal Education. London:
Routledge & Keagen Paul.
Bologna Working Group on Qualifications Frameworks, ―A Framework for Qualifications of the

European Higher Education Area,‖ (report published by Ministry of Science, Technology and
Innovation, Copenhagen, February 2005), http://www.bologna-bergen2005.no/Docs/00-
Main_doc/050218_QF_EHEA.pdf (accessed August 10, 2010).
Green, T. F. 1995. Needed: A Pedagogy Please. In R. Orrill ed. The Condition of American
Liberal Education. New York: College Entrance Examinations Board, pp. 238–243.
Huber, M. T., Hutchings, P., Gale, R., Miller, R., Breen, M. Spring 2007. Leading Initiatives for
Integrative Learning. Liberal Education. http://www.aacu.org/liberaleducation/le-
sp07/featurefour.cfm (accessed February 11, 2013).
Humphreys, D. 2006. Making the Case for Liberal Education: Responding to Challenges.
Washington, DC: Association of American Colleges and Universities.
Karr, D. March 2009. Revisiting the Liberal and Vocational Dimensions of University Education.
British Journal of Educational Studies, 57(1), pp. 1-17.
Kaplan, A. Spring 1992. The New Disciplines of Liberal Education. Curriculum Inquiry, 22(1), pp.
52-53.
Kreber, C. 2009. The University and its Disciplines: Teaching and Learning Within and Beyond
Disciplinary Boundaries. New York and London: Routledge.
48
Huber, M. T., Hutchings, P., 2004. Integrative Learning: Mapping the Terrain. The Carnegie
Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.
http://www.carnegiefoundation.org/sites/default/files/publications/elibrary_pdf_636.pdf
(accessed May 10, 2010).
Mulcahy, D. G. 2009. What Should It Mean to Have a Liberal Education in the 21st Century?.
Curriculum Inquiry, 39(3), pp. 465-486.
Newman, J. H. 1947. The Idea of a University Defined and Illustrated. In Charles Frederick
Harrold, ed. New York: Longmans, Green.
―Realising the European Higher Education Area‖ (Communiqué of the Conference of Ministers
responsible for Higher Education, Berlin, Germany, September 19, 2003), http://www.bologna-
berlin2003.de/pdf/Communique1.pdf (accessed August 10, 2010).
Wall. J. 2003. Phronesis, Poetics, and Moral Creativity. Ethical Theory and Moral Practice 6, pp.
317-341.
49
Rhythm, Music and Architecture; A Studio Experience on

Commonalities of Creative Processes
Bilge Imamoglu
TED University, Department of Architecture, Turkey
[email protected]
Bilge İmamoğlu received his B.Arch in 2000 and MA in Architectural History in 2003, both from Middle East Technical
University. He completed his PhD in TU Delft, in Institute of History of Art, Architecture and Urbanism in 2010. He‘s
been an assistant professor in TEDU Department of Architecture, Ankara since 2012.
Derin Inan
derin.inan tedu.edu.tr
Derin İnan graduated from YTU, İstanbul in 1999, received her M.Arch degree from METU, Ankara. She has
completed her PhD in AA, Arcitectural Association, London. She currently works in TED University, Ankara as an
assistant professor. Her main research interests focus on architectural theory, basic design and architectural
representations and design education in 1st year.
Basak Ucar
basak.ucar tedu.edu.tr
Başak Uçar works as an assistant professor at TEDU Department of Architecture since 2012. She graduated from
Middle East Technical University with a B.Arch degree in Architecture in 2003 and received her M.Arch degree in
2006, PhD degree in 2011 from the same department.
Abstract
The common ground that architecture shares with other disciplines of design and
planning, as well as its relation to all forms of visual arts, is evident and granted.
This shared ground and the reciprocities that all inter-disciplinary relations
suggest are being efficiently –and inevitably– utilized for educational purposes.
For many courses in the architectural curricula, instructors and students find
many opportunities to compare concepts of architecture with those of visual
arts. However, one can also observe that such comparisons and relations mostly
tend to be experienced through the products of such fields. The relation of art
works themselves to architectural concepts becomes so boldly apparent that the
comparison of the processes of artistic creation and architectural production
remains secondary. On the other hand, architectural design also shares a lot with
other compositional arts that does not operate on visual terms, such as music
and literature. The vocabulary on composition shared by all these disciplines with
concepts such as texture, rhythm, and etc. opens up further possibilities for
educational experiences on the process of creation. In this paper, such an
50
experience that is undertaken in the 1st year studio of TED University

Department of Architecture will be discussed, with its planning and preliminary
results. This experience started with a workshop on body music in cooperation
with an instructor on rhythm in School of Music and evolved through 2D
compositions and 3D spatial organizations based on that. Throughout the
process the common intellectual resources of architectural design and musical
composition are utilized as a tool for architectural design education.
Keywords: Design education; music; rhythm
Introduction
The common ground that architecture shares with other disciplines of design and planning, as
well as its relation to all forms of visual arts, is evident and granted. This shared ground and the
reciprocities that all inter-disciplinary relations suggest are being efficiently –and inevitably–
utilized for educational purposes. For many courses in the architectural curricula, instructors and
students find many opportunities to compare concepts of architecture with those of visual arts.
However, one can also observe that such comparisons and relations mostly tend to be
experienced through the products of such fields. The relation of art works themselves to
architectural concepts becomes so boldly apparent that the comparison of the processes of
artistic creation and architectural production tends to remain secondary.
On the other hand, architectural design also shares a lot with most of the compositional arts that
does not operate on visual terms, such as music and literature. The vocabulary on composition
shared by all these disciplines with concepts such as texture, rhythm, and etc. opens up further
possibilities for educational experiences on the process of creation. In this paper, such an
experience that is undertaken in the 1st year studio of TED University Department of
Architecture will be discussed, with its planning and preliminary results. This experience started
with a workshop on body music in cooperation with an instructor on rhythm in School of Music
and evolved through 2D compositions and 3D spatial organizations based on that. Throughout
the process the common intellectual resources of architectural design and musical composition
are utilized as a tool for architectural design education.
Commonalities with Visual and Non-Visual Arts
The relationship between architecture and visual arts has been an important reference in
architectural design studios not only in terms of theory, concept, history and the artwork itself,
but also as a reference for the definition of the architectural design and production processes.
The developments in one field have affected the other(s) in significant manners throughout the
history. Subsequent to the challenges in visual arts, exploration of new design experiences,
which was an implicit search for defining the architectural design and production processes, has
become explicit. Directly altering the means of expression, Cubism, De Stijl, Suprematism,
Constructivism and even recent visual arts under the influence of computer technology has led
to the discovery of new formal definitions and design processes.11 The evident relationship
between the architecture and visual arts can be traced in the particular examples of art and
architecture. Certain aspects of Mondrian‘s works such as the abstract and systematic construct
of the composition and representation of the relations have been considered as constructive
techniques and the influenced architectural works of the period. Mondrian claimed that his aim
11
Novak, M. ‗‗An Experiment in Computational Composition,‘‘ in New Ideas and Directions for the 1990‟s [ACADIA
Conference Proceedings], Gainsville, Florida – USA, 1989, pp. 61-83.
51
in his art works was to define the representation of relations through mathematics, which has
been acknowledged by many architects to control the formal relations.12
Figure 1. Rietveld Schröder House (left) by Gerrit Rietveld and Mondrian‘s Composition with
Red, Yellow and Blue (right) as an example of the relationship between visual arts and
architecture.
Although the influences of disciplines on each other can be analyzed in intellectual,

phenomenological or technical means, the art product itself has dominated the relationship
between architectural concepts and visual arts. It can be asserted that the product has
dominantly overshadowed the production process and the intellectual background, where the
interdisciplinary hybridization of the production process has become of secondary importance.
This can be associated with the visual output of the artwork, which is considered usually as the
initial reference rather than the intellectual ones. In many design studios on the other hand,
other interrelated disciplines, which operate mainly on compositional yet not visual terms,
liberate the architect and the architectural student to take aim at the act of composing. Since
these compositional arts are in essence non-visual products, they can affect the architect and
the design process indirectly, relying on the intellectual processes of production. Therefore,
references to compositional arts such as music and literature imply that, the architect have
direct access to the structure of it to decipher the texture, rhythm, proportion and etc. that opens
up further possibilities for architectural design processes and architectural education. As a
matter of fact, arts, music and literature, especially in the modern age, enjoyed valiant and
prolific conversations within each other, and not only in terms of their social interactions and
connotations within the societal modernization, but also in compositional terms. One can read,
as Alfred Appel did, the modern history of music, arts and literature in their correlations, where
Jazz pioneers such as Louis Armstrong placed their music in the modernist tradition of arts by
revitalizing the ―vernacular‖ and ordinary in a progressive fashion while on the other hand artists
such as Matisse, Picasso and Mondrian developed their art towards a ―performing‖ act; or Joyce
constructed complex rhythmic structures in his colossal novel13.
Music as a compositional art, which is considered as a reference discipline in the architectural

design studio experience covered in this paper, enables to pursue the connections between the
generative processes of production and also the mathematical and structural formation that
governs the artwork. References to abstraction principles acknowledged in the production of
12
Rotzler, W. Constructive Concepts: A History of Constructive Art from Cubism to the Present, Rizzoli, 1989.
13
Appel, A. Jazz Modernism: From Ellington and Armstrong to Matisse and Joyce, Yale University Press, New Haven
and London, 2004.
52
music work can be transferred to the other discipline as a generative process and the
mathematical indications of proportion, structure and rhythm can be considered as communal
principles. The intellectual and structural references shared by music and architecture can be
considered as initiating forces for a generative process. However, it is not only the correlation
between pitch, rhythm or duration that can be taken as reference parameters, but also the
process of production without a specific emphasis on the output.14 Rather, the output can be
considered as a product of a generative process that shifts the attention to the process rather
than the output. Therefore, conception of music as a trans-reference discipline and the
mathematical and structural integrity as the generative process crossing two disciplines
illuminates new approaches in architectural education. In first year architectural design studio,
body music as a discipline of compositional was conceptualized as an intrinsic constituent of
education process to benefit from the potentials offered with the shift of focus from the output to
the process.
Curriculum Design based on Collaboration of Courses
An approach that is similar to bringing in inputs from various disciplines for the benefit of design
education, but one the advantages of which are not limited to the teaching at the design studio,
is related to the revitalization of the collaboration and exchange in between various components
of architectural education. In that end, there arose an opportunity in our newly founded school of
architecture to reshape the relation of different courses to each other, as well as reconsidering
their individual content, as the curriculum was to be designed from scratch. The idea at hand
and the basic policy decided upon was not only about refiguring certain parts in the course
contents that emphasize common goals specific to the first year in architectural education, but it
was also focused on programming weekly schedules in a way that each course mutually
reinforce each other in execution in a parallel and simultaneous way. Three must courses
offered by the Department of Architecture for the first year students in Fall semester, ―Basics of
Design‖, ―Architectural Communication Techniques I‖, and ―History of Art and Architecture‖,
were outlined in a such way that there are bold and legible weekly thematic overlaps,
corresponding or at least complementary scopes and common and reciprocally supportive
exercises and assignments. This reconfiguration naturally required certain essential decisions
on the part of two courses other than the design studio. In the Communication course most of
the assignments given were related with students‘ own projects that they dealt with in the design
studio. The History course on the other hand, was designed in a thematic outline, rather than
the conventional chronological fashion, so that strong thematic connections could be held with
the other two courses.
An illustrative example to such connections will be given below, where the design assignment
that is the main subject to this paper is discussed in detail, but before going into that, further
discussion on the collaboration and integration of the courses may be necessary. The significant
issue in this sense should be about fine-tuning of the collaboration of architectural courses so
that it does not overstate the dominance of the design studio, which has almost always been
evident in the architectural curricula, to an extent where the autonomy of other ―service‖ courses
is completely swept away rendering them utterly subordinate to the studio. The experience at
hand proved to be successful so far in avoiding such subordination, with the assistance of some
studies and exercises where the design course is not at the focus. Such studies, while still
14
Beilharz, K, ‗‗Designing Sounds and Spaces: Interdisciplinary Rules & Proportions in Generative Stochastic Music
and Architecture,‘‘ Journal of Design Research, 4 (3), 2004.
53
having references to subjects, themes and discussions held at the design studio, were designed
in the collaboration of the Communication and History courses. Two examples can be given in
this sense: the students were assigned a reading for the History course on texture and surfaces
while in the same week they were asked to produce a graphic representation for the same text
in the Communication course. The final assignments of two courses were also designed in
collaboration. Students were assigned to conduct a research and write a short analytical essay
for a significant building in Ankara for the History course, while the Communication course
asked for architectural drawings of the same building together with a poster that illustrates their
analysis and approach as exposed in the essay. Such collaborative exercises did not only
provide more efficient use of students‘ time and energy, but more importantly presented them a
valuable message on the diversity and range of different mediums that can be utilized for
architectural thinking and expression.
Design studio‘s inclusion in this interactive exercise taking place in between different modes of
architectural thinking and related theory and history on the one hand and various methods of
architectural expression on the other is reciprocal. On the part of the History course, students‘
direct personal involvement in basic design concepts and tools creates the familiarity that is
intensely functional in intellectualizing the historical narration of the very same concepts and
tools. For the design studio, the integration and collaboration of the courses can be utilized for a
design education that diverts the enticing emphasis on the product and brings forth issues on
the process, reinforcing the inputs of the interdisciplinary approach discussed above. Indeed,
the studio project on rhythm that will be discussed in this paper was initiated in the History of Art
and Architecture class. Days before the studio hour that the rhythm assignment was introduced,
the subject in the History course was ―structure, rhythm and proportion‖ with preparatory
readings on the subject including discussions on music and architecture15. The subject structure
in this discussion was taken both as the physical structure and its relation to architectural
design, and the abstract structure in relation to the compositional concepts in art and
architecture. The two-hour lecture included the essential discussion on proportion, in reference
to its historical occurrences in classical and modern art and architecture with its obvious
association with the musical structure via the concept of rhythm, which paved the path for the
introduction of the subject in the design studio. However, a rather indirect preparation for the
design problem that the students would be involved with in the coming weeks were made by a
fairly extended discussion on Piet Mondrian‘s abstractions.
Besides their solid connections to the concepts of rhythm and proportion and connotations to
musical structure which become quite vocal with certain works such as ―Broadway Boogie
Woogie‖ (1942 – 43), the lengthy inclusion of the discussion on Mondrian‘s works aimed to help
shift the focus from the products themselves to the creative process that the artist underwent.
For this purpose, the series of works that the artist produced throughout the 1910s starting with
―the Red Tree‖ (1908) and evolving into his later and well-known compositions with an
increasing level of abstraction were presented to the students, encouraging them to debate on
the process rather than the works in themselves and the way the artist developed his tools of
expression. Mondrian‘s own words (though not directly presented to the students to let them
discuss and discover) are much explanatory for the aimed direction of this discussion in the
15
Readings assigned to be read before coming to the class were:
Jormakka, K. ―Music and Mathematics as Models‖. Basics Design Methods. Birkhauser, Basel, 2007. pp . 20-32.
Le Corbusier. ―Regulating Lines‖. Towards a New Architecture. Dover Publication, New York, 1986 (originally 1931).
pp. 65-88.
Ghyka, Matila. ―Proportions in Space and Time‖. Geometry of Art and Life. Dover Publications, New York, 1977. pp.
1-6.
54
History class, published in De Stijl in 1919, in the form of an imaginary dialogue16. Here
Mondrian clearly explains how his earlier works on the tree are expressions of the artist through
the nature but later ―it progressively abandoned the naturalistic appearance of things and
increasingly emphasized the plastic expression of relationships‖17. The intellectual transparency
of the text gets even more striking as Mondrian writes the development of the method was
―through the work itself‖ and the theories came afterwards. ―Consistent abstraction‖, he writes
―led me to exclude the visible concrete completely from my plastic expression. In painting a tree
I progressively abstracted the curves: you can understand that very little tree remained.‖18
Figure 2. Piet Mondrian, works 1908-1918
This process of abstraction where the artist uses a source of observation to perform and
develop a tool of expression which progressively results in an abstract expression of itself,
abandoning the initial observed resource would again be the main theme in the studio in the
following days with the workshop on body music that initiated the series of assignments to
constitute the final project of the Basics of Design course. (Figure 3) The workshop was directed
by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Özgü Bulut, an instructor on rhythm in School of Music of Anadolu University
and a body musician. In this workshop, students were introduced to and participated in the
development of compositional and performative tools of body music, where music and dance
are created by playing with body sounds such as stepping, snapping, slapping and vocalizing19.
Bulut exemplified the process with a sample performance where the musician starts by playing
with simple words such as ―çikolata‖ or sentences such as ―let‘s go back to the seventeenth
century‖, deconstructs their sounds, reconstructs them within a rhythmic structure inspired by
the timbre of syllables20, and translates them to various body sounds of snapping, slapping and
stepping. Bulut then worked with the students to mathematically analyze the proportional
relations in different rhythmic constructions and finally performed compositions where he
merges different constructions adding up to a complex structure. Concluding this very enjoyable
interactive session, Bulut addressed the students and pointed out how ―in the end, very little
‗çikolata‘ remained‖.
16
In fact the imaginary collocutor in this dialogue is a musician and the text put forths musical annologies that assist
the inter-disciplinary connections as aimed by the project here.
Mondrian, Piet. ―Dialogue on the New Plastic‖, in: Harrison, Charles; Wood, Paul. (eds.) Art in Theory 1900-1990: An
Antholoyg of Changing Idea, Blackwell, Oxford and Cambridge, 1992, pp. 282-286.
17
Ibid. p. 282.
18
Ibid. p. 284.
19
See, Bulut, M. Özgü. ―Body Music and Socio-Cultural Change‖ in: Kalyoncu, N. Erice, D. Akyüz, M. (eds.) Music
and Music Education within the Context of Socio-Cultural Changes. Müzik Eğitimi Yayınları, Ankara, 2010, pp. 83-90.
Bulut, M. Özgü. ―Kalabalıklar ve Beden Müziği – Crowds and Body Music‖. Sanatta Yeterlik Tezi. Thesis of expertise
in arts, Anadolu Üniversitesi Güzel Sanatlar Enstitüsü. Anadolu University Institute of Fine Arts, Eskişehir, 2011.
20
Such as: ―Çiko-çiko-la-la-çiko-çiko-ta-ta-çiko-la-çiko-ta-çiko-la-ta‖.
55
Figure 3. Body Music workshop in the Basics of Design Studio.
Design Studio Experience; The design Brief
Following the body music workshop, the students were given their first assignment concerning
the project. They were asked to analyze and document the rhythmic choreography of sound and
movement by focusing on three segments that they have extracted from the performance. Each
segment was expected to be studied and abstracted with different visual compositions in the
form of three layers which were developed interdependent on one another and produced by
particular techniques and materials. Throughout the process the attention was placed on the
structure set between the elements and the layers, which initiated the compositions in
successive layers rather than the notational representations of the performance. (Figure 4, 5)
The 3-layered generative drawing was considered as a composite layer that took its reference
from the musical performance, which initiated the successive phases of the design process.
Figure 4.
Figure 5.
In the second phase of the design process, the students duplicated the composite layer and
intersected the two layers at the angle of 90 degrees to start forming a 3-dimensional construct,
where the information present in the generative drawings were considered as references in
deciding the method of intersection and also in deciphering new relations. (Figure 6)
56
Figure 6.
The third phase was to explode the intersecting planes by introducing lines and planes to
instigate the 3D spatial organization. The invisible regulating lines were transferred into an
invisible 3D grid to activate the spatial organization referring to the foundational basis present in
the composite planes and the lines & planes were moved and rotated to generate the spatial
organization. (Figure 7) the composite layers acting as reference planes were started to
dissolve in the fourth phase, traces of which were considered as a part of the 3D spatial
organization. (Figure 8) throughout the design process, it was not concentrated predominantly
on the structural definition process of initial musical reference, where fading of direct references
to music as an art work was intentionally sought to let the students focus more on the process of
production, where in the end very little of music remained.
Figure 7.
Figure 8.
Conclusion
The experience outlined in the paper in reference to the first year Basics of Design studio
proposes an initiative to support the practice of shared grounds with inter-disciplinary relations
and especially with the non-visual compositional arts in architectural design education.
Structured on favoring the practice of process based design over product based visual studies,
the proposed experience utilizes the shared intellectual processes and resources of
architectural design and music as tools for architectural design education. Enabling more to
focus on the process, this approach enabled the first year students to experience a
57
systematically progressing design practice and end up with considerably promising design
proposals in terms of the competent control of the process. A significant reflection of this
approach on architectural education can be argued to be the demystification of the process of
creation and most of all, of the concept of ―talent‖, which is the common source of the learnt
incapacity that tends to disable many students in the beginning of their architectural education.
In this sense, body music as a medium of composition and performance where the tools used –
body sounds – are equally familiar and available to all, without the necessity of mastering the
use of an external device, proved to be an extremely convenient field. The students were able to
participate in the process of composition for a different profession in a relatively easy and quick
way and had chances to observe that the process has many common basics for all human
creation, where the human intellect observes the world, develops subjective instruments to
process the observed and puts forth new statements that stems from the process in the form of
a new creation. With the assistance of the experience in another field, they were introduced into
the field of architectural design, as another form of intellectual interaction with the world,
unrestrained from the preconceptions of a mystified form of an architectural ―talent‖.
As a further study, it is aimed to design another workshop that will experiment the reverse
analysis of intellectual production processes, where the students in School of Music will read the
architectural production processes and reflect their interpretations in music.
REFERENCES
Appel, A. Jazz Modernism: From Ellington and Armstrong to Matisse and Joyce, Yale University
Press, New Haven and London, 2004.
Beilharz, K, ‗‗Designing Sounds and Spaces: Interdisciplinary Rules & Proportions in Generative
Stochastic Music and Architecture,‘‘ Journal of Design Research, 4 (3), 2004.
Bulut, M. Özgü. ―Body Music and Socio-Cultural Change‖ in: Kalyoncu, N. Erice, D. Akyüz, M.
(eds.) Music and Music Education within the Context of Socio-Cultural Changes. Müzik Eğitimi
Yayınları, Ankara, 2010, pp. 83-90.
Bulut, M. Özgü. Kalabalıklar ve Beden Müziği – Crowds and Body Music. Sanatta Yeterlik Tezi.
Thesis of expertise in arts, Anadolu Üniversitesi Güzel Sanatlar Enstitüsü. Anadolu University
Institute of Fine Arts, Eskişehir, 2011.
Mondrian, Piet. ―Dialogue on the New Plastic‖, in: Harrison, Charles; Wood, Paul. (eds.) Art in
Theory 1900-1990: An Antholoyg of Changing Idea, Blackwell, Oxford and Cambridge, 1992,
pp. 282-286.
Novak, M. ‗‗An Experiment in Computational Composition,‘‘ in New Ideas and Directions for the
1990‟s [ACADIA Conference Proceedings], Gainsville, Florida – USA, 1989.
Rotzler, W. Constructive Concepts: A History of Constructive Art from Cubism to the Present,
Rizzoli, 1989.
FIGURE REFERENCES
Figure 1.
Deicher, S. Piet Mondrian, 1872-1944: Structures in Space. Benedikt Taschen, Köln, 2006.
Figure 2.
58
(The Red Tree, Piet Mondrian, 1908.) Calosse, Jp. A. Mondrian, Parkstone Int, 2011, p. 12.
(The Gray Tree, Piet Mondrian, 1911.) Calosse, Jp. A. Mondrian, Parkstone Int, 2011, p. 14
(Flowering Apple Tree, Piet Mondrian, 1912.) Deicher, S. Mondrian, Taschen, 2004, p. 34.
(Abstract Tree, Piet Mondrian, 1912.) Calosse, Jp. A. Mondrian, Parkstone Int, 2011, p. 16.
(Tableau No. 2/Composition No. VII, Piet Mondrian, 1913.) Honour, H. , Fleming, J. A World
History of Art, Laurence King, 2005.
(Composition with Grey and Light Brown, Piet Mondrian, 1918.) Herwitz, D. Making
Theory/Constructing Art: On the Authority of the Avant-Garde, the University of Chicago Press,
1993, p. 107.
59
Re-Visiting BSED*: An Interpretation of the Educational Aims of a

Collective Movement at Metu In 1970‘s
Burcu Beslioglu
Bahçeşehir University. Department of Architecture, Turkey
[email protected]
(b.1980, İstanbul) She graduated from the Architecture Department of Yıldız Technical University in 2003, and
received an MArch degree in 2006 from the Middle East Technical University, Department of Architecture with her
thesis entitled ―Actualization of the Virtual: New Considerationf Space and Time in Architecture‖. Presently she is a
PhD candidate in Yıldız Technical University and has been working as a research asisstant at Bahçeşehir University
since 2007.
ABSTRACT
During mid 70‘s, several attempts were raised in Middle East Technical
University Faculty of Architecture fostering the idea of ―scientifization of
architecture‖. Within the universal tendencies that highlight a scientific approach
to architecture, the movement in METU had followed a multifaceted progress.
The attempts lead to a proposal for the establishment of a Department of
Architecture Sciences along with its extensions in three national conferences
which were organized by ÇEMBİL (Association of Environment and Architecture
Sciences) - an institution also established by the same motivation and activated
by the participation of same group of scholars.
Although Architecture Sciences was never established as an under graduate

department, it was founded as a graduate program in 1979 and named as
Building Science and Environmental Design. The program was based on the idea
of forming a multi-disciplinary research platform which aimed at generating
theory of architecture based on scientific based approaches. Unfortunately the
program had a short term -but still influential- life which was ended by YÖK
(Higher Education Council) in 1982.
Based on the experiences left behind by BSED and its overlapping educational
aims with the program of LUBFS**, this paper highlights the similarities in the
conception of architecture theory between these two institutions and focuses on
the potentials of a multi-disciplinary approach in architectural education. It is
claimed that the multi-disciplinary research culture in architecture plays a crucial
role for computational design thinking in terms of generating a basement for
plural approaches that will enhance the contemporary computational theory.
*BSED: Building Science and Environmental Design, A graduate program at

METU Faculty of Architecture, between 1979-1982
**LUBFS: Land Use and Building Form Studies, Research center founded at
1967 at Cambridge University School of Architecture
KEYWORDS: Architecture Theory, Multi-disciplinary Research, Computational

Design, METU Faculty of Architecture, LUBFS, BSED
60
―The characteristic feature of architectural education is that it involves widely different types of
knowledge. … universities will require something more than a study of techniques and parcels
of this or that form of knowledge. Knowledge will be guided and developed by principles: that is
by theory. Research is the tool by which theory is advanced. Without it, teaching can have no
direction and thought no cutting edge.‖21 Leslie Martin, 1958
―For the discipline of architecture is lack of a sufficient theory, makes it aspire the theory and
methods of other disciplines. Since it does not mean a whole purification from the isms and
methods of other disciplines, the establishment of a valid theoretical base can be provided by
the development of research and methods unique to architecture. Such an approach is not only
reliable but also obligatory for it operates the interdisciplinary relations, determines the required
constraints in the definition and solution of problems and provides the influential use of the
produced knowledge.‖22 Mete Turan, 1977
Leslie Martin who is one of the seminal figures of the computational legacy at the Land Use and
Built Forms Studies (LUBFS) research center at Cambridge University founded in 1967,
declared these words in 1958 RIBA Oxford Conference. Martin‘s words emphasize the
requirement of a multi-disciplinary character of architectural education and research to provide
an objective basis for architectural theory. In Martin‘s point of view, which became more obvious
in the paradigm of 60‘s and 70‘s, the discipline of architecture is considered as a field of
knowledge based on its own substantial and procedural theory grounded on quantitative
thought.23
Besides his involvement as one of the leading figures to British avant-garde movement in 30‘s,24
the origin of Leslie Martin‘s ideas had several reasons in relation to the social and economic
climate of post-war England. As Rocha points out:
―The focus on a theory that could inform research within architecture would
constitute his main goal for the following decades. Leslie Martin's speech at the
1958 'RIBA Oxford Conference on Architectural Education' was already an official
echo on the belief of what architectural education and research should be about.‖25
In the universal context, the positivist view of architecture theory and the issues regarding the
scientifization of architecture –as in Design Methods Movement- had been developed beginning
from early 60‘s, subject to many different origins of thought but mainly due to the changing
needs and nature of industry, technology and practice. However in Turkey, while some
conditions can be marked as being influential for a new paradigm to flourish, the intellectual
movement is considerably rooted in the academic interest raised by the scholars having
international research experiences abroad beginning from early 60‘s.
21
Martin, L. 1958, June. ―Conference on Architectural Education‖, RIBA Journal, 65 (8), 280.
Also in March, L., ―Foreword‖, the Architecture of Form, ed. By March, L., Cambridge University Press, 1976.
22
Turan, M. 1977, ―İnsan, çevre İlişkileri: Kuramsal ve Eğitsel Sorunlar‖, KTÜ Mimarlık Bölümü Mimarlık Bülteni, (2):
55-59
23
Jon Lang makes a clear distinction between the normative and positivist consideration of theory, where the
positivist theory involves substantial and procedural ways of thought.
Lang, J., 1987. Creating Architectural Theory: The Role of the Behavioral Sciences in Environmental Design, Van
Nostrand Reinhold.
24
In 1930‘s Leslie Martin had been an influental figüre at the intelectual millieu of British avant-garde movement that
is formed by the participation of architects and artists such as Naum Gabo, Ben Nicholson, Piet Mondrian, Barbara
Hepworths, Walter Gropius. … In 1937 Martin with Ben Nicholson and Naum Gabo edited a book ―Circle‖ which
consists texts from sculpture, painting and architecture.
25
Rocha, M. J. A. (2004) Architecture Theory 1960-1980. Emergence of a Computational Perspective, Unpublished
PhD Thesis, MIT, Cambridge, MA.
61
In Turkey, particularly in mid 1970‘s METU Faculty of Architecture had been a scene of a
collective movement by scholars for the establishment of a more ―scientific‖ thinking of
architecture.26 The leading figures of the ―scientifization‖ movement in METU were Mustafa
Pultar and Mete Turan -two engineers- whose participations as faculty members accelerated the
present intellectual milieu into a more apparent tendency to shifting the paradigm to a rational
and objective basis. The underlying motivation behind the movement was based on the reaction
towards the conventional understanding of architectural design that is assumed to be made up
of implicit design thoughts27; therefore, the initial purpose is explained later by Pultar himself, as
―to some extent rationalize the architectural understanding.‖28
Sharing similarities with Martin‘s point of view, Mete Turan‘s words also focus on the need of
architectural theory based on the objective knowledge gained from a multi-disciplinary research
culture. Turan‘s statements about the ―establishment of a valid theoretical base‖ and the point of
a multi-disciplinary character are the main arguments of these two approaches that took place in
different geographies but sharing same motivations in terms of reacting towards the normative
approaches in architecture.
The interpretation of these two overlapping approaches does not only point out two coinciding
personal ideas, but also it provides to make a connection between the academic milieus through
which these ideas emerge. Formed under the effects of different conditions and 10 years time
difference, the concern of establishment of a unique and objective-grounded architecture theory
through multi-disciplinary research at LUBFS appears at the aim and the content of BSED –
Building Sciences and Environmental Design29 which is offered as an undergraduate
department as Architecture Sciences but founded as a graduate program that had a short term
but yet influential life between 1979 and 1982.30
The studies conducted at LUBFS are revealed as one of the seminal intellectual ideas that give
birth to the computational design thinking.31 For the context of Turkey, the origins of a
computational design culture is claimed to be rooted in two academic milieus observed by the
author as having two major different characters, first at İTÜ (İstanbul Technical University)
beginning from the early 60‘s with an emphasis on systematic design methods, second at
METU with a rise of a collective movement with its discourse as ―the scientifization of
architecture‖ between scholars in mid 70‘s.32 This paper highlights a similarity between the
intellectual fields at the formation of LUBFS and BSED, where both make the emphasis on the
establishment of a reliable and objective-based architectural theory through multi-disciplinary
research. Also, again similarly, both institutions had little work directly on design methodologies
26
Tonguç Akış has explored this period and discussed the issue in his PhD thesis
Akış, T., 2008., ―Teachıing / Forming / Framing A Scientıfically Oriented Architecture In Turkey Between 1956 –
1982‖, Unpublished PhD thesis, METU, Ankara.
27
Christopher Jones‘s -one of the leading figures of design methods movement in 1960‘s- famous suggestion about
the designers‘ mind as ―black box‖ and ―glass box‖ expresses the same idea. The ―black box‖ metaphor had been
frequently used by the scholars of 60‘s and 70‘s to identify the implic i tdesign decisions in the designers mind.
28
Interview with Mustafa Pultar, 24.09.2011, Kabataş.
29
Building Sciences and Environmal Design is translated to Turkish as ―Yapı Bilimleri ve Çevre Tasarımı‖, but is
commonly called as YAPÇAT.
30
Although the program was in charge with 8 to 10 students and scholars teaching from different disciplines, it was
unfortunately ended after the foundation of Higher Education Council at 1982.
31
32
The discussions about the origins of computatinoal design thinking in Turkey is the subject of an ongoing PhD
Thesis: Beşlioğlu, B. ―Computational Design Culture in Turkey: Theory, Academic Background, Criticism‖, Advisor:
Şebnem Yalınay Çinici, Yildiz Technical University.
62
which constitute the procedural way in the positivist understanding of architectural theory. As
indicated by Lionel March: ―Little work of LUBFS has been directly aimed at improving design
methods. The emphasis has been on attempting to gain the fundamental knowledge on which
such methods must ultimately depend.‖33 The focus at LUBFS is not on methodological-based
research, also, at METU in 70‘s, design methodologies has been given a rare emphasis when
compared to the research based on the quantitative analysis of environmental subjects.
By relating two different experiences that took place in architectural education and research, this
paper‘s aim is twofold. First by revisiting these two experiences, their aims and proposed
programs can be comparatively elaborated to reveal the challenges gained by the multi-
disciplinary research culture and the focus of establishing a reliable architectural theory. Also,
such comparative studies also open up discussions on how the intellectual ideas have become
visible in Turkish architecture schools and so, by this way the unique conditions that affected
these experiences can be identified. Second aim of this paper is to discuss these intellectual
formations which initiated the computational studies by interpreting them in the light of the
present conception of computational design thinking in architectural education.
The critical point of view shared by both experiences about the lack of theoretical basis is still
crucial for the computational design thinking and particularly it offers a meaningful starting point
to understand its present situation in architectural education. Although it is a widely accepted
research field, computation is still understood as directly bounded to digital tools and their
implementation is the common way in the existing studies regarding computation. Detaching the
conceptions of computerization and computation is significant, because while computerization
directly refers to the experiences provided by the potentials offered by computers, computation
is a design approach which does not require computers and can be integrated to design
process without the machine34. Fundamentally, computation can be understood as a design
approach where reasoning of design plays the most crucial role. However, the notion of
reasoning that computation is claimed to be grounded in its contemporary studies, is different
from the definition of ―reasoning‖ of 60‘s and 70‘s paradigm in terms of its aims and
implementations.
The paradigm of 60‘s and 70‘s share the claim of architectural theory as finding ―universal
patterns‖ that can be implemented into every solution of the same problem.35 The ―reasoning of
design decisions‖ in this paradigm means usually to form a closed system working with definite
inputs ending with fixed solutions. The use of quantitative methods based on structuralism
theories such as systems theory, operational research and linear programming is the common
way used by such design approaches during 60‘s and 70‘s. However, the main criticism towards
this approach was that by creating universal patterns through closed systems, the creative
aspects of design are ignored, and the intuitive nature of designer can no longer take place in
such a design process. Reasoning in computation does not have to work with a closed system,
aiming to find universal patterns that give solutions to every definite kind of design problem.
Reasoning in computation can be understood as the generation of a unique abstraction and
defining its rule-finding procedure –that is generating an algorithm- for each design process that
is unique to the designer‘s personal interpretation of the given design inputs. In this plural
understanding of reasoning in computation36, a multi-disciplinary research culture surrounding
33
March, L., 1973, ―Foreword‖, Cambridge Urban&Architectural Studies The Architecture of Form, ed. by March, L.,
Cambridge University Press, 1976
34
Kostas Terzidis clearly makes the distinction between computation in computerization in his book titled Terzidis, K.,
2006. ―Algorithmic Architecture‖, Architectural Press, Burlington.
35
36
Özkar, Mine, 2004, Uncertainties of Reason: Pragmatist Plurality in Basic Design Education, unpublished PhD
Thesis, MIT, Cambridge, MA.
63
the architect/designer enriches the possibilities of generating different reasoning routes for
design approaches.
The Overlapping Conception of Architecture Theory at LUBFS and BSED
One of the arguments shared by both of the emerging ideas at LUBFS and BSED is the focus of
a valid architectural theory unique to architecture to be grounded as an objective basis
established by the multi-disciplinary research. A critical point is about the conception of theory
which does not refer to a normative understanding of theory but formed by substantial and
procedural contents that regard finding ―universal patterns‖.
In his text ―The Evolution of The Theoretical Studies in Architecture‖ dated 1978, Süha Özkan -
one of the influential scholars of this period at METU- states that, beginning from the 60‘s, the
character of theoretical studies in architecture has been subject to changes from subjective to
objective, speculative to scientific, normative to descriptive.37 According to Özkan, studies in
architectural theory can be considered in two main groups as ―normative‖ and ―descriptive‖,
where normative theories define the ways of constructing architecture by establishing
determined rules in the manner of traditional methods of architecture, the descriptive theories
focus on the design process rather than the evaluation of the end product. The focus on the
process is also critical in Leslie Martin‘s conception: ―I do not propose to speak about forms and
images. Form is the end product of a process. I prefer to discuss what seems to me far more
important to the architect: some of the intentions and the processes that cause forms to exist
and give them their significance and meaning.‖38
Logical formulations are the main characteristics of descriptive theories which basically aim to
reveal the issues of space and environment and their integration to design process. Süha
Özkan offers that it is a critical fact of merging these two ideas of theory, because both they
have complementary thoughts and methods. 39
The descriptive category of theory deals with the descriptions of the existing situation, which is
defined by Süha Özkan as the most scientific part of architectural theory. As it is obvious form
the experiences of both at LUBFS at Cambridge and at BSED in METU, as well as other similar
attempts of ―scientification of architecture‖ 70s had been the period where descriptive theories
played the leading role. Özkan claims that:
―It was very popular for everyone to carry out research on the relevance of one thing
to another thing, and this was viewed as being very ―scientific.‖ The whole body of
information on architecture, especially that developed and conveyed in schools of
architecture, was based on these descriptive approaches because there was a
strong logic behind it, and it formed a scientific backbone that would inform
architectural theory. But all it did was describing what has happened and is
happening.‖40
The same point is clear in Rocha‘s words: ―Building blocks of matter, whether social, economic,
literary, or psychological, are found in our environment, and the inner relations between these
elements produce "universal patterns," that allow us to organize the perception of phenomena in
a new "structural" way‖. Based on this argument, Rocha suggests that during the 60s and early
70s, there was a split in the 'theoretical transfer' from the field of structuralism studies into
37
Özkan, S., 1978, ―Mimarlıkta Kuramsal Çalışmaların Evrimi‖, Mimarlık Bilimi Kavram ve Sorunları, Pultar, M. der.,
ÇEMBİL Yayınları, Ankara. Ss. 38-45.
38
Martin, L. [1967, May]. "Architect's Approach to Architecture," RIBA Joumal, 20.
39
40
Özkan, S., Development of Thinking and Theory in Architecture, An essay on a presentation made by Suha Ozkan
to Diwan al-Mimar on October 21, 2001, http://new.csbe.org/.../Diwan.../theoryinarchitectu
64
architecture by the development of mathematical models as new operative and theoretical tools.
He argues that ―Cambridge, UK an ideal scientific setting for the fruition of a rigorous mode of
mathematical thinking which, promoted by Lionel March at LUBFS, soon started to be
embedded in architectural research‖.
In Turkey at METU Faculty of Architecture in 70s, an intellectual field emerged sharing similar
tendencies on the scientific understanding of architectural research. The assumptions made by
the leading figures were also similar. Lionel March suggests that: ―It is no longer enough to rely
on intuitive skill acquired through personal experience: skill must become socialized, scientific,
orderly accumulative, and critisizable on a sound objective basis [...] the environmental
problems we face are too serious to be left to individual hunches.‖41 These ideas are clearly
obvious in the proposal of Architecture Sciences at METU.
LUBFS: The Multi-Disciplinary Research Culture and the Formation of Architecture
Theory
LUBFS is founded by Leslie Martin at Cambridge University Department of Architecture and
renamed as Martin Center for Architectural and Urban Studies in 1974. From 1956 to 1972
Martin directed the intellectual life of the Department of Architecture. 42 The aim of the center is
defined by Lionel March as ―to foster research and to advance theoretical knowledge in the
fields of architectural design and physical planning with special emphasis on the study of urban
systems, activity patterns, the organization of space and environmental design.‖ Since its
foundation, a multi-disciplinary research has been one of the focuses at LUBFS where scholars
from different fields of research such as mathematics, statistics, computing science, operational
research, engineering, geography, and economics work collaboratively. Lionel March states
that:
―The study of architectural and urban situations requires concerted effort by a
number of people at once, often bringing a variety of academic skills together. In
taking this direction, the research has paralleled work in other disciplines and it is
here, at present, that the bridges with other faculties are to be found.‖43
The studies conducted at LUBFS are based on the formulation of abstract models in the
exploration of spatial and physical forms. Lionel March defines three common stages of
research at LUBFS: ―in the first descriptive models are formulated and where appropriate these
are tested against empirical evidence; in the second, the models are used predicatively to the
study the probable performance of possible designs; and in the third, search procedures are
introduced to provide aids in decision making and the selection of a satisfactory design under
specific conditions.‖ 44
Rocha emphasizes that Leslie Martin and Lionel March‘s attitude at LUBFS reflects the thought
of ―understanding architecture as a whole, where rigorous research was the fundamental
method through which architectural ideas would emerge and be put into practice‖45 Rocha‘s
research about the emergence of a computational perspective in architecture also determines
LUBFS as the initiator of a computational legacy that led to the contemporary practice.
According to Rocha, ―In a broader theoretical context, questioning how to model and create a
41
March, L.,Echenique, M., Dickens, Peter et al. [1971, May]. "Models of Environment. Polemic for a Structural
Revolution," Architectural Design. Volume XLI, 275.
42
Cambridge University Press, 1976.
43
Ibid
44
Cambridge University Press, 1976.
45
Rocha, A. M., Emergence of a Computational Paradigm.. , s. 24.
65
computational representation of architecture phenomena was also one of the major

contributions of LUBFS‖. Also, in studies at METU during 70s, the same issues take place at the
studies of scholars such as Mustafa Pultar, İbrahim Canbulat and Bülent Özgüç who developed
research about programming the tools for computational drafting.
Aim and Content of Architecture Sciences: The Focus on Theory and Multi-disciplinary
Character of the Proposed Program
Pultar and Turan stated that the theoretical basis for design can only be established and
developed by Architecture Sciences which they define as a discipline whose only purpose is to
develop this theory. In this context, they define the aim of Architecture Sciences as ―to
determine, define, explain and analyze the elements that effect on architecture and environment
design, and to reveal the principles of these elements which influence the syntheses for
providing an alternative to idealist thought.‖46 Concerning this specific point of view, Özkan‘s
statements about the theories rejecting ―idealism‖ point out that they aim to determine the rules
of operation for the design process and define interactional networks and matrices, decision
making approaches, system approaches, operational research, brainstorming, Synectics,
building evaluations, etc. as descriptive theories in architecture. 47,48
Pultar and Turan formulizes the aim and the content of Architecture Sciences by elaborating the
relation of architecture and science where they state that the focus shared by the studies in
Architecture Sciences are based on scientific approaches and are produced in a multi-
disciplinary research culture. Sharing a similar conception at LUBFS which was early stated by
Lionel March, they highlight that the environmental issues that is critical for architectural design
can only be understood in a multi-faceted and holistic point of view. According to Pultar and
Turan the multi-disciplinary approach also provides the efforts of scientists of different
disciplines to be directed to architecture sciences so that it will lead to a reliable working
medium. 49
Architecture Sciences is defined by the authors as different of from the similar programs of the
period in different countries titled such as the ones sharing the same name or architecture
technology, architectural engineering or building science. 50 While all the mentioned programs
are claimed to share the purpose of applying technological methods based on science to
architecture professions and by this way somehow consume the existing technology with a
pragmatist point of view, the discipline of Architecture Sciences employs the main purpose of
producing the valid knowledge that will establish the theoretical base of architecture. 51 However
in this critical distinction, Pultar and Turan does not offer a parallelism of Architecture Sciences
with the program at LUBFS –which is called as Martin Center after 1974-, in his personal
interviews Mustafa Pultar specifically declared that they have been in relation with the studies
conducted at Cambridge as well as some personal –but not in an institutional level- connections
were carried on during the period.52
46
Pultar, M., Turan, M. , 1978, ―Mimarlık Bilimleri ve Kapsamı‖, Mimarlık Bilimi Kavram ve Sorunları, Pultar, M. der.,
47
48
Akış, T., 2008., ―Teachıing / Forming / Framing A Scientıfically Oriented Architecture In Turkey Between 1956 –
1982‖, Unpublished PhD thesis, METU, Ankara.
49
Pultar, M., Turan, M. , 1978, ―Mimarlık Bilimleri ve Kapsamı‖, Mimarlık Bilimi Kavram ve Sorunları, Pultar, M. der.,
50
Ibid.
51
Ibid.
52
66
Written by Vacit İmamoğlu, İbrahim Canbulat, Suha Özkan, Mustafa Pultar, Mete Turan and
Yıldırım Yavuz, ―The Proposal of the Department of Architecture Sciences‖ 53 displays the
reasons behind this proposal in both universal and national contexts. In the universal context,
the complexity of problems in architectural environment as a result of the technological and
social changes is marked as the most obvious reason. Therefore, the replacement of scientific
methods with intuitional approaches in architectural design is offered as a requirement which is
a consequence of the changing conditions. One of the reasons in the national context is
claimed as the need of a scientific approach in architecture for providing a consistency to the
processes in relation with the rise of building investments and their portion in the economy in
Turkey.
The educational aims of the department of Architecture Sciences are described as follows:
1- To bring in scientific realism to the profession of architecture and to expand and develop
the basis of profession.
2- To investigate the elements that affects architecture and environmental design and
determines the principles that will influence the synthesis.
3- To raise the number of staff who are interested in the building problems of which their
sizes, complexity and importance rises more and more; to develop their skills and
capabilities, to provide them to contribute the problems in a practical way.
4- To form a milieu that merges the relation of education-production and to educate by
research by knowledge production.
5- To force the limits of the benefits gained from different disciplines to the profession of
architecture; to effort for advancing the inter-disciplinary interactions –which is a new but
a rising task in Turkey- to a more healthy and effective level. But by the dealing of
architectural problems, to work on the development of methods that would better and
faster respond to architectural problems rather than using the methods of other
disciplines.
The education at the full-time, two-years graduate program of Architecture Sciences (which is
named in the foundation as BSED-Building Sciences and Environmental Design), is composed
as consisting of some common first years courses and some specialization courses in the
second year curriculum. In the first year curriculum, Environmental Analysis (a studio open to all
students) and Architecture Science Workshop (a seminar study in studio) is proposed as the
two common courses. In the following year, the students are expected to specialize in fields
such as: The Historical Analysis of Artificial Environment, Design Theory and Philosophy,
Human-Environment Relations, Design Methodology, Systems Analysis in Architecture and
Design, Design and Architectural Structures, Environmental Control. Also, the courses
conducted by the METU Computation Sciences Department are stated to be open to the
students of this program. 54,
53
İmamoğlu, V., Canbulat, İ., Özkan, S., Pultar, M., Turan, M., Yavuz, Y., 1977, ―Mimarlık Bilimleri Bölümü Önerisi:
Tartışmalı Gerekçe ve Program‖, Mimarlıkta İkinci Kademe Eğitimi: Kuram, Araştırma, Uygulama, 21-23 Mart 1977,
Ankara.
Also, in: Canbulat, İ., İmamoğlu, V., Özkan, S., Pultar, M., Turan, M., Yavuz, Y., 1976, Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi
Mimarlık Bilimleri Bölümü Önerisi, ODTÜ Mim. Fak. Yayınları, Ankara.
54
These courses offered by METU Computation Sciences Department are listed as follows: Digital Analysis, Data
Sturctures, Informatics, Systems Planning, Artificial Intellegence, Digital Approches in Optimization.
Middle East Technical University General Catalog 1976-1977, Ankara, ODTÜ, 1976
Canbulat, İ. 1977, Mimarlıkta Bilgisayarlar: Ülkemizde Bugünü, Mimarlıkta İkinci Akdeme Eğitimi: Kuram, Araştırma,
Uygulama, ODTÜ 21-23 Mart 1977, Ankara
67
The content of the ―Systems Analysis in Architecture and Design‖ involves the topics of
―scientific methods in architecture, digital techniques, systems approach, integrated computer
use, design with computers, building economics, modeling and design methods‖. İbrahim
Canbulat states that the issues of computational design had a crucial role in the curriculum of
Architecture Sciences program, so that particularly in the branch of ―Systems Analysis in
Architecture and Design‖ training specialists of computer aided architectural design was offered
as one of the purposes. 55 Depending on this purpose, this branch in the program offers courses
as follows: Advanced Mathematics for Architects, Computers and Programming, Probability and
Statistics for Architects, Systems Analysis and Design, Modeling in Architecture, Computer
Aided Design 1-2, Architectural Drafting with Computers, Data Processing in Architecture.56
Conclusion
In this paper, only one of the institutional formations of this period is evaluated. Also, a science
association called ÇEMBİL is founded and the Journal of METU Faculty of Architecture is
initiated during the same period. The overall climate of METU in 60‘s and 70‘s is a task to be
marked as being effective to the formation of such a dynamism that appeared as a ―collective
soul‖ between scholars.
The organizational scheme of METU as made up of departments instead of chairs that a more
hierarchical relation is valid between scholars themselves and the relations between the
scholars and students had been influenced the formation of such a movement. In the
consideration of the conditions that made possible a collective movement of scientifization of
architecture, İlhan Tekeli takes attention to the student movements that gave a prestigious role
to the students in every field of social life as well as consolidating their critical role in the
education. The determining role of political affects to the formations in the academic field is also
apparent in the case of METU where the challenges gained by the movement is disrupted by
the ending of BSED in 1982 by the Higher Education Council founded after 1980 military coup.
Although Department of Architecture Sciences had first been aimed to be founded as a
graduate program, the proposal for a graduate program named ―Architecture Sciences
Proposal‖ is published in January 1976 as a booklet,57 and it had been introduced to all the
faculty members as well as other scholars in the other faculties which thought as in interest. The
proposal had been widely discussed in a seminar organized in June 1976 at KTÜ – Karadeniz
Technical University in Trabzon, named ―Mimarlıkta İkinci Kademe Eğitimi ve Mimarlık Bilimleri
Semineri‖. 58 The development of the program and its introduction both to the faculty members
and other scholars in different faculties and universities, had provided to take critical ideas into
consideration, so that the critical points in discussion had chance to be evaluated and
responded in the following steps. It is significant for this experience that every level in the
development process of the proposal is elaborately recorded and published which is also
valuable for that it informs us about the consciousness in the organized movement. An
investigation into the process of proposal and the foundation of BSED, reveals that the
movement is a unique experience in the recent history of architectural education in Turkey, for
not only it initiated the appropriate multi-disciplinary research culture that computational design
55
Canbulat, İ. 1977, Mimarlıkta Bilgisayarlar: Ülkemizde Bugünü, Mimarlıkta İkinci Akdeme Eğitimi: Kuram,
Araştırma, Uygulama, ODTÜ 21-23 Mart 1977, Ankara
56
Canbulat, İ. 1976, Mimarlık bilimleri Bölümü Önerisi, ODTÜ Mimarlık Fakültesi Yayınları, Ankara
57
58
İmamoğlu, V., Canbulat, İ., Özkan, S., Pultar, M., Turan, M., Yavuz, Y., 1977, ―Mimarlık Bilimleri Bölümü Önerisi:
Tartışmalı Gerekçe ve Program‖, Mimarlıkta İkinci Kademe Eğitimi: Kuram, Araştırma, Uygulama, 21-23 Mart 1977,
Ankara.
Ayrıca daha kapsamlı öneri için bkz. Canbulat, İ., İmamoğlu, V., Özkan, S., Pultar, M., Turan, M., Yavuz, Y., 1976,
Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi Mimarlık Bilimleri Bölümü Önerisi, ODTÜ Mim. Fak. Yayınları, Ankara.
68
can be fostered, but also for it exemplifies a movement formed by the collective soul between
scholars. The investigation of recent experiences that are relevant to the intellectual ideas that
initiated the studies on computational design is meaningful to place computational design
thinking in current architectural education.
The challenge of 70‘s with a rise of an interest of architecture for fostering the development of
computational design thinking has been twofold. First the underlying paradigm of reasoning of
design has been fundamental, and second the multidisciplinary research culture is still a reliable
approach for architectural education and research where the multifaceted character of
computational design thinking can be fostered.
References
Akış, T., 2008., ―Teachıing / Forming / Framing A Scientıfically Oriented Architecture In Turkey
Between 1956 – 1982‖, Unpublished PhD thesis, METU, Ankara
Canbulat, İ. 1977, Mimarlıkta Bilgisayarlar: Ülkemizde Bugünü, Mimarlıkta İkinci Akdeme

Eğitimi: Kuram, Araştırma, Uygulama, ODTÜ 21-23 Mart 1977, Ankara
Canbulat, İ., İmamoğlu, V., Özkan, S., Pultar, M., Turan, M., Yavuz, Y., 1976, Orta Doğu Teknik
Üniversitesi Mimarlık Bilimleri Bölümü Önerisi, ODTÜ Mim. Fak. Yayınları, Ankara.
İmamoğlu, V., Canbulat, İ., Özkan, S., Pultar, M., Turan, M., Yavuz, Y., 1977, ―Mimarlık Bilimleri
Bölümü Önerisi: Tartışmalı Gerekçe ve Program‖, Mimarlıkta İkinci Kademe Eğitimi: Kuram,
Araştırma, Uygulama, 21-23 Mart 1977, Ankara.
Lang, J., 1987. Creating Architectural Theory: The Role of the Behavioral Sciences in
Environmental Design, Van Nostrand Reinhold.
March, L., ―Foreword‖, the Architecture of Form, ed. By March, L., Cambridge University Press,
1976.
March, L.,Echenique, M., Dickens, Peter et al. [1971, May]. "Models of Environment. Polemic for
a Structural Revolution," Architectural Design. Volume XLI, 275.
Martin, L. 1958, June. ―Conference on Architectural Education‖, RIBA Journal, 65 (8), 280.
Middle East Technical University General Catalog 1976-1977, Ankara, ODTÜ, 1976
Özkan, S., 1978, ―Mimarlıkta Kuramsal Çalışmaların Evrimi‖, Mimarlık Bilimi Kavram ve
Sorunları, Pultar, M. der., ÇEMBİL Yayınları, Ankara. Ss. 38-45.
Özkar, M., 2004, Uncertainties of Reason: Pragmatist Plurality in Basic Design Education,
unpublished PhD Thesis, MIT, Cambridge, MA.
Pultar, M., Turan, M. , 1978, ―Mimarlık Bilimleri ve Kapsamı‖, Mimarlık Bilimi Kavram ve
Sorunları, Pultar, M. der., ÇEMBİL Yayınları, Ankara. Ss. 23-26.
Rocha, M. J. A. (2004) Architecture Theory 1960-1980. Emergence of a Computational

Perspective, Unpublished PhD Thesis, MIT, Cambridge, MA.
Terzidis, K., 2006. ―Algorithmic Architecture‖, Architectural Press, Burlington
69
Private and Public Knowledge from Architectural Research59
Bruno Gil
Centre for Social Studies, University of Coimbra, Department of Architecture, Portugal
[email protected]
Architect graduated from the Department of Architecture, Faculty of Sciences and Technology, University of Coimbra,
in 2005, with the thesis ―Architecture School, Today‖. Currently, continues his research developing the PhD Thesis
―Architectural Research Centres: towards research in 21st Century architecture schools‖ at the Centre for Social
Studies, University of Coimbra, Portugal.
Abstract
The main expected outcome of this paper is the critical formulation of the hypothesis that
architectural research has its own specificities, mapping the territories of the University
in which architecture actually acts and for which it could expand. To unveil these
specificities it will be relevant, in contrast, to glimpse what it is not specific, by identifying
processes shared with other disciplines and potentialities, or constraints, which result
from the integration of architectural research into the University (Wigley, 1991).
This institutional inclusion invokes other issues arising from the present condition of the
University itself. To assess this condition this paper will start by addressing knowledge
through a brief reflection on the intertwined relation between research and economy,
introducing previous considerations of authors as Ortega y Gasset (1944), Gadamer
(1986) or Boaventura Sousa Santos (2008). Subsequently, it will focus on the condition
of a universal and public knowledge before a panorama of knowledge privatization to
financially sustain University, ultimately, questioning the autonomy of research.
To architecture, as an academic discipline, it is placed a new challenge: on the one
hand, to consider how ―basic research‖ may contribute to architecture‘s own
understanding, through theoretical studies and, on the other hand, how ―applied
research‖ may negotiate with the practice and society, through the making.
Concluding this paper will unravel these polarities considering the assessment of the
―architectural research centre‖, and its hypothetical place as a powerful interface
between architecture schools and other disciplines inside University and between
teaching and professional practice.
Keywords
Architectural Research; Knowledge Privatization; Basic and Applied Research;

Research Centre
The main expected outcome of this paper is the critical analysis of architectural research‘s own
specificities, mapping the territories of the university in which architecture actually acts and for
which it could expand. To unveil these specificities it will be relevant, by contrast, to glimpse
what it is not specific, through the identification of processes shared with other disciplines and
59
This paper lies within a PhD research provided with a grant by the Foundation for Science and Technology,
Portugal.
70
potentialities or constraints which result from the integration of architectural research into the
university.
This institutional inclusion brings out other issues arising from the present situation of the
university itself. We will start by addressing knowledge through a brief reflection on the
intertwined relation between research and economy, focusing on the condition of a universal
and public knowledge before a panorama of knowledge privatization to financially sustain
university, ultimately, questioning the autonomy of research.
To architecture, as an academic discipline, it is placed an important challenge: on the one hand,
to consider how basic research may contribute to its own understanding, through theoretical
studies and, on the other hand, how applied research may negotiate with the practice and
society.
Concluding, we will unravel these polarities through the assessment of the architectural
research centre, and its hypothetical place as a powerful interface between architecture schools
and other disciplines inside university, and between teaching and professional practice.
The institutional complex
When architecture is in search for a place as a discipline in the institutional complex of the
university, signs of rejection are natural to occur. The success of this implementation depends
on a long negotiation between the core of the institution and the recently added discipline within
the hierarchy.
Probably reminding of Alberti‘s city-body analogy, Wigley introduced the metaphor of the
university as a ―body of faculty independent of any particular location‖ (Wigley, 1991, p.10).
Furthermore, when recalling William Ware, in 1866, as the founder of the first school of
architecture within an American university (the future Massachusetts Institute of Technology),
Wigley compared architecture as a prosthesis and university as the host (Fig.1). Thus,
recognizing it more as an artificial inclusion than an organic one, and therefore unnatural; mainly
because of an initial foundation of the school between the sciences and the progressive
adaptation to fine arts60: ―Architecture schools began to detach themselves from their hosts in
both the sciences and the fine arts to occupy the gap between them - the "middle ground"
identified by Ware.‖ (Wigley, 1991, p.22) (Fig.2)
Fig.1. Architecture (prosthesis) and university (host). [diagram by the author]
60
Moreover, Wigley also recalls Ware as the founder of the school of architecture at Columbia University, in 1881
after leaving MIT: ―Founded in the sciences, the school soon detached itself from them, being for some years
suspended without a proper place, then becoming the basis of the new department of fine arts, and, ultimately,
detaching itself from that to form an independent school.‖ (Wigley, 1991, p.21).
71
Fig.2. Architecture between sciences and fine arts. [diagram by the author]
The case of the well-known London based school of architecture Architectural Association,
shows a history of struggle for autonomy. We may remind of its financial crisis in 1970, facing
the danger of closure. Able to sustain itself, it avoided a university inclusion. By reiterating its
independence, it would eventually benefit from the leadership of Alvin Boyarsky, while
invigorating the school‘s principles of inquiry. More recently, the actual director of the
Architectural Association, Brett Steele, made reference to the values of practice, mediated by an
ethic of compromise. He evoked Walter Crane‘s redesign of the Architectural Association‘s
crest, near the end of nineteenth century, where he inscribed the motto ―Design with Beauty,
Build in Truth‖ (Steele, 2010, p.6). (Fig.3)
However, to architecture, as to other fields, to admit an institutional position inside such a
heterogenic milieu as the university, is furthermore to recognize the potentialities obtained from
an inter-relation, translated into a more thorough research. Nevertheless, the clear distinction
between the several disciplinary fields during the collaborative process remains as a significant
condition of the organism, as also the reinforcement of the main core of the discipline depends
on how this openness evolves throughout.
Fig.3. AA emblem designed by Walter Crane, c 1850s [Courtesy of AA Publications. Originally published in Architectural
Association. AA book: Projects review 2010, p.7]
The 1958‘s Oxford Conference on architectural education, headed by the director of the
Cambridge school of architecture Leslie Martin, would establish important deliberations on the
integration of architecture inside the university. Advocating that this framing introduced
advanced levels in research, which should be intelligently adopted, Martin recognized it as the
opportunity to strengthen and advance theory: “Research is the tool by which theory is
advanced. Without it, teaching can have no direction and thought no cutting edge.‖ (Martin,
1958)
When we speak of theory, we can also extend the same principle to all areas of discourse
around architecture, when it is furthermore a form of inquiry. Thus, these theoretical approaches
to architecture are needed to support the growth of a cultural professional in the first cycle
study, around the design studio, as central to the education of the architect.
This approach to architecture, through research, brings out other questions, concerning the
vertical relations between curricular degrees. On the one hand the mission of professional
training and, on the other hand, the mission of research. Currently, the way these vertical
transfusions are translated to a Bologna scenario is being largely discussed, and even if at the
72
same time this reform defends inseparable research and teaching processes, it also promotes a
curricular division between the two degrees.
The distinction between the teaching of professions and the fostering of scientific research was
very much stressed by José Ortega y Gasset. However, he also criticized its optimization as a
threat to what he considered the major mission of the university, that is, the transmission of
culture by the assimilation of the world‘s vital system of ideas. (Ortega y Gasset, 1992 [1930],
p.28). When university‘s main goal turns to a technocratic core about educating the professional
and developing research, culture is relegated to oblivion:
―Compared with the medieval university, the contemporary university has developed
the mere seed of professional instruction into an enormous activity; it has added the
function of research; and it has abandoned almost entirely the teaching or
transmission of culture.‖ (Ortega y Gasset, 1992 [1930], p.28)
The expanding of research within architecture potentiates interdisciplinarity, which eventually
questions the boundaries of the discipline. Indeed, by dislocating from its normal practices,
architecture may controversially defend its main core, as Peter Eisenman has revealed:
―Dislocation is in fact a preserving rather than a destroying mechanism for
architecture. To prevent it from institutionalization, Brunelleschi, Alberti, Palladio,
Boromini, Piranesi, Le Corbusier, Mies, even to some extent Venturi, Graves, and
certainly John Hejduk all were attempting to conserve architecture as a discourse
through a dislocation of its presence.‖ (Eisenman, 1989, p.192)
More than a tertiary education responding merely to professional needs, if the university is
conceived as a complex organization, and not just a simple addition of several knowledge
faculties, it is possible to envision the potentiality of such an organism. But architecture persists
still as a prosthetic intrusion to the complex, even if the recently emergence of architectural
research in academic circles contributes to the recognition of architecture as a discipline and to
its acceptance as an organ of the organism.
Finally, the main problem remains as the uncertainty of what to consider research when we
think of architecture and its kaleidoscope of research practices. The disciplining of architecture
must come from within and not only from the outside, avoiding a normative perspective, or a
meta-research definition that crosses various fields and blurs disciplinary specificities.
The value(s) of research
To reflect on opportunities for funding depends on contemplating research as an activity, and

knowledge as its main outcome, which to some extent may be translated into added value.
Traditionally, judging this value consisted more of an assessment of its disciplinary contribution
and the inner quality of education as a cultural asset. In the last few years this latter value
became more associated with an economical point of view, most of the times disregarding the
cultural one.
Ortega y Gasset, remembering the economist Gustav Cassel, recognized scarcity as the basis
of economic activity (1992 [1930], p.40). Idea that he transferred on to the capacity of learning,
and which we could also transfer to the need for researching:
―Scarcity of the capacity to learn is the cardinal principle of education. It is
necessary to provide for teaching precisely in proportion as the learner is unable to
learn.‖ (Ortega y Gasset, 1992 [1930], p.41)
Also Hans-Georg Gadamer referred to education as fundamental to university. By evoking
Wilhelm von Humboldt and his reform of the German university in the early nineteenth century,
Gadamer identified scientific research as a means to education, differently from a preparation to
73
a profession in which science would be applied. And research, as education, was likewise
compared to an elevated state that ―signified a distancing from everything profitable and useful.‖
(Gadamer, 1992 [1986], p.48)
For the one side, a philanthropic culture has represented an important support to research, as a
private, but non-profit source. After the Second World War, Adriano Ollivetti personalized an
intense relation between politics, urbanism and the practice of architecture in Italy. He
supported innumerable architectural experiences of a crucial transition from modernity to
postmodernity, such as the ones by Ignazio Gardella or James Stirling. But his most significant
contribution to research consisted on the creation of an institution dedicated to studies in
urbanism61.
For the other side, the Vannevar Bush‘s post-war report Science: The Endless Frontier (1945),
much motivated by United States‘ experience of research during the war years, suggested that
investing in basic and applied research potentiates technological innovation and development.
This recognition would eventually serve as an inspiration to post-war policies in most of the
OECD countries.
The focus of the welfare states on the investment in the university prevailed until the notorious
diminishing of the public funding and the inversely proportional rise of private funding, mainly
coming from the industry and a globalized neoliberalism that increasingly manipulated economic
and social policies. Sociological studies by Boaventura Sousa Santos reflect on this transition,
ultimately relating the crisis of the university‘s scientific autonomy to an economical dependency
on external stakeholders (Fig.4), which many times dictate research priorities:
―The neoliberal attack has as its special target the nation-state and particularly the
economic and social policies in which education has played a major role. In the
case of the public university the effects of this attack are not limited to the financial
crisis. They have direct or indirect repercussions on the definition of research and
training priorities, not only in the areas of social science and liberal arts but also in
the natural sciences, especially in those areas most closely connected to
technological development projects.‖ (Santos, 2006, p.77)
This situation questions the autonomy of the university since its sustainability involves issues
that are not only scientific and epistemological in nature but also economic, making use of the
investigation and its results also as a way to obtain financial return from knowledge, eventually
as a market‘s product62 (Fig.4). Moreover, all disruptive knowledge works as esoteric and
secretive and precisely because of its scarcity and novelty, it becomes a valuable asset63.
61
As another example of this philanthropic culture, Calouste Gulbenkian, based in Portugal, also made available
financial support through its private foundation, which would fund, among others, the researches conducted by Leslie
Martin in the University of Cambridge.
62
―The old myth of the autonomy of the university, as a clearly defined place separate from the material world it
theorizes, breaks down. In the modern university, the theoretical cannot be separated from the technical. Indeed, for
Heidegger, the modern domination of technology is precisely the dominance of the architectonic principle that
organizes the production of theory.‖ (Wigley, 1991,p.22).
63
To this respect, research may be alienated from education, hindering the transmission of new findings to teaching.
―The phenomenon is so persistent that it reappears at any level of civilization, when there arises a particularly novel
variety of knowledge, superior in kind to all that has been previous known. Since the new and enviable knowledge
exists at first only in small quantity, it is a valuable kind of property, to be imparted only in jealous secrecy.‖ (Ortega y
Gasset, p. 42).
74
Fig. 4. Different tendencies that are dictating the value(s) of research. [diagram by the author]
Thus, research (hitherto developed fundamentally, self-centred in favour of advancing

disciplinary knowledge) has joined development, as a crucial condition for the advancement of
knowledge through the application of the results. In fact, the generalization and uncritical import
of the economic formula R & D may hinder the pure definition of research if its original boost is
actually outside the university and it is surpassed by the preponderance of development from an
economical view, right from the beginning. Frequently, external funding determines the range
and features of the study programs and the relevance of research:
―The entrepreneurial pressure is so strong that it goes far beyond the sphere of
extension, trying to define according to its own image and interests what counts as
relevant research. This redefinition does away with both the distinction between
extension and research and the distinction between fundamental and applied
research.‖ (Santos, 2006, p. 89)
In fact, recent OECD‘s reports reveal this changing nature of research funding, to a private
income, even if in countries like Portugal, to less extent Turkey, as late investors in research,
there is still a preponderance of state‘s financial support above OECD‘s average. Mainly
because of the low income of the industry funding to research, well below OECD‘s average
(OECD, 2012).
Thus, it is possible to recognize the conformation of a knowledge economy. To university it is
placed a new challenge – to balance and to negotiate the boundaries between public and
private knowledge, realizing that synergies with private interests may controversially contribute
to reinforce university‘s autonomy (Fig.5).
Fig.5. Universities‘ private funding ruling over public funding. [diagram by the author]
Fig.6. Gross domestic expenditure on R&D performed by the higher sector from OECD 2012 indicators. [graphic by the
author]
75
Furthermore, the value of knowledge also depends on its academic excellence. From this point
of view, the assessment of the academic scenario is becoming normalized through several
rankings, which tend to value quantitative above qualitative indicators (Fig.4). Ultimately, with a
top-down evaluation, which disregards specificities of the disciplines64.
The place of architectural research
Large part of the performed research in different fields is undertaken outside university. Even if
in countries like Turkey where 46%, and Portugal with 37%, of the gross domestic expenditure
on R&D takes place at the higher education sector, whereas in China and the Russian
Federation less than 10% is so (OECD, 2012) (Fig.6).
Still, the core of the following considerations will reflect on the architectural research centre in
the context of the university, concluding on its probable place within that institutional complex.
The well-defined traditional body of the university, as a hierarchic organization of faculties that
define the place of the disciplines and where several sub-faculties and departments are
developed, has become increasingly complex. As the culture of research becomes more and
more present, in the recent decades we have witnessed the emergence of research institutes
and centres of advanced studies, in which knowledge transfers, between disciplines, take place
for collaboration in the so-called focus areas (Fig.7).
Fig.7. University becoming increasingly complex. [diagram by the author]
This expanding activity of the university, most of the times outside of its institutional limits, is
referred by Boaventura Sousa Santos as a transition from university knowledge to pluriversity
knowledge, adapting the description of ―mode 1 knowledge‖ and ―mode 2 knowledge‖ as
defined by Gibbons et al. (1994)65.
―… pluriversity knowledge is a contextual knowledge insofar as the organizing
principle of its construction is its application. Because this application is extramural,
the initiative for formulating the problems to be solved and the determination of their
criteria of relevance are the result of sharing among researchers and users.‖ (Santos,
2006, p. 74)
64
Here, the contour gets problematic, mainly concerning humanities or cultural fields, where in many cases its
product is immaterial and immeasurable.
65
This categorization reminds the three worlds introduced by Karl Popper, referring world 1 to the physical world,
world 2 to experience or subjective thought and world 3 to objective thought, as a product from the human mind.
(Popper, 1972).
76
Disciplines have turned into a topology of places66 and those focus areas, at the same time
areas of no one and everyone, are disruptive and more probable to be considered for funding,
such as sustainability or as biotechnology, which are actually justifying all kinds of research
projects, some times independently of their real scientific value (Fig.8).
Fig.8. Examples of disciplines and sub-disciplines turning into a topology of places, while emerging new focus areas.
[diagram by the author]
The evolvement of distinct research cultures starts to depend more on non-formal research
affinities between people of different institutions, while increasing the collaborative effort,
through the establishment of formal protocols of several research centres worldwide.
Embodying and readapting Santos‘ definition of pluriversity knowledge, it is possible to envision
the concept of the architectural research centre as a hub for transdiciplinary confrontation with
other forms of knowledge and at the same time evolving in an open system, less perennial and
less rigidly hierarchical. In fact, the architectural research centre may well function as a
prosthesis in the body of the university.
As an example of this changing paradigm, a Neil Denari‘s theoretical project, Prototype
Architecture School No.5, may to some extent illustrate a fresh model of that prosthesis.
Conceived for a contest launched in Japan in 1992, its drawings belong to the vast collection of
architecture of the Museum of Modern Art in New York 67. The brief of the competition was
generic, a specific site was not given, so design freedom was unlimited and the main target was
to envision what represented a school of architecture in that precise moment.
Riley sees Denari‘s theoretical school as the moment of fusion between the machine and the
cyber worlds, quoting Italo Calvino: "The iron machines still exist, but they obey the orders of
weightless bits." (2002, p. 240). In turn, Denari sees the prototype as the bridge between
building and product. It is a bridge that distends the legacy of architecture, at the boundaries of
a disciplinary reconfiguration.
66
―Around the central part of the university, the sciences must pitch their camps, their laboratories and seminars…
Accordingly its roots must reach out to the laboratories of every sort and tap them for the nourishment they can
provide.‖ (Ortega y Gasset, p.79).
67
The drawings of the project joined the exhibition "Envisioning Architecture: Drawings from the Museum of Modern
Art", hosted by the Royal Academy of Arts in London, by the Schim Kunsthalle in Frankfurt and finally by the Museum
of Contemporary Art of Serralves in Porto. It was published in the exhibition catalogue, with a short critic essay by
Terence Riley, which according to Neil Denari is perhaps unique.
77
Final remarks on architectural research polarities

What is then the place of research into architecture when its product usually results from a
process of design, and the architectural object almost always corresponds to built work? The
balance between architecture and research implies a relationship of mutual dependence and at
the same time the clear recognition of each one; searching for a research that is fundamental,
and does not look immediately for an application of discovery as an act of transformation of
knowledge into a product, but rather questions architectural education itself and its place in the
institutional complex:
―Suspended between art and science, academic and professional, pure and applied,
theoretical and practical, it fills all the gaps that once defined the outer limits of the
university but now inhabit and divide its core.‖ (Wigley, 1991, p. 22)
The integration of advanced studies should thus constitute not a threat but an opportunity for an
epistemology of architecture for a body of provisional concepts, more informed and sustained.
In short, wiser in response to a context of increasing relativism, where every expanded practice
is automatically considered research.
References
Bush, V. (1945). Science, the endless frontier: A report to the President. Washington, D. C:
Govt. Print. Off.
Eisenman, P. (1989) [1988] A Critical Practice: American Architecture in the Last Decade of the
Twentieth Century. In J. Hejduk, E. Diller, D. Lewis & K. Shkapich (Eds.), Education of an
architect: the Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture of the Cooper Union. (pp. 190-193). N. Y.:
Rizzoli.
Gadamer, H.-G. (1992) [1986]. The Idea of the University: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow. In H.-
G. Gadamer, D. Misgeld. & G. Nicholson (Eds.), Hans-Georg Gadamer on education, poetry,
and history: Applied hermeneutics. (pp 47-59). Albany, N.Y: State University of New York Press.
Gibbons, M., Limoges, C., Nowotny, H., Schwartzman, S., Scott P. & Trow, M. (1994). The New
Production of Knowledge. London: Sage.
Martin, L. (1958) RIBA, Oxford Conference on Architectural education. Retrieved September 12,
2012, from http://www.oxfordconference2008.co.uk/1958conference.pdf
OECD (2012). Main Science and Technology Indicators. Volume 2012, Issue 1. Paris: OECD
Publishing.
Ortega y Gasset, J. (1992) [1930]. Mission of the University. New Brunswick, New Jersey:
Transaction Publishers.
Popper, K. R. (1972). Objective knowledge: An evolutionary approach. Oxford: Clarendon
Press.
Riley, T. (2002) Neil Denari. In D. Frankel (Ed.), Envisioning Architecture: Drawings from the
Museum of Modern Art. (pp. 240-241). New York: The Museum of Modern Art.
Santos, B. S (2006). The University in the 21st Century: toward a democratic and emancipatory
university reform. In Rhoads, R. A., & Torres, C. A. (Eds.). The University, State, and Market:
The political economy of globalization in the Americas. (pp.60-100) Stanford, Calif: Stanford
University Press.
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Association. AA book: Projects review 2010. (pp.3-7) London: Architectural Association.
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78
Transcontinental Lessons in Affordable Housing
Pierjin VAN DER PUTT

Delft University of Technology, Netherlands
[email protected]
Pierijn van der Putt (Eindhoven (NL), 1973) studied architecture at Delft Technical University.Before joining the
faculty as a tutor for the Chair of Architecture and Dwelling he worked as an editor for Dutch architecture magazine
‗de Architect‘. Besides being a tutor, Van der Putt is also an editor for the scientific ‗bookazine‘ DASH (Delft
Architectural Studies on Housing), publishing on various topics concerning the architecture of housing.
Abstract
All over the world cities are growing at a feverish pace, requiring an ever
increasing number of dwellings. Many federal and local governments struggle to
provide decent and affordable housing for their growing populations. This
problem itself is not new: it calls to mind the pressing need for adequate housing
in post-war Western Europe. However, the scale and pace of the current demand
is unprecedented. It is the global scale of this issue that has prompted the Chair
of Architecture and Dwelling of Delft University of Technology to apply its
longstanding expertise on European social housing and dwelling typologies to
global contexts facing similar issues. As such, the chair recently started a new
design studio, dedicated to the question of affordable housing worldwide. The
first Global Housing Studio took place in the capital of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa.
Lectures by local experts provided thorough insight into the slums as they exist
today, the government social housing program and possible alternatives that
show greater economic and ecological awareness. Lectures by the participants
from Delft introduced the Dutch history of affordable housing and the TU Delft
tradition of analysing and classifying. This paper will elaborate on the lessons
learned in the studios of Addis Ababa, recently completed, and Chandigargh,
currently beginning. It will discuss the potential of the Global Housing Studio to
develop models for specific locations, founded on the belief that expert
knowledge of housing design combined with a thorough investigation of local
conditions and culture can lead to the most durable, effective and sustainable
solutions for the problem of affordable housing worldwide.
Key words: affordable housing, social housing, architectural education, Ethiopia
In April of 2012 a group of 16 students and 3 tutors of Delft Technical University68 travelled to
Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, to kick off the first Global Housing Studio (GHS)69. The
Global Housing Studio is a Master 2 design studio initiated by professor Dick van Gameren,
head of the Chair of Architecture and Dwelling of the faculty of Architecture of TU Delft
(Netherlands). Goal of the studio is to develop models for affordable housing for different cities
and countries all over the world, and to present comparable research into the subject. Its main
assumption is that possible solutions for the worldwide demand for affordable housing lie in
68
Six nationalities made up the group of students: Netherlands, Singapore, Switzerland, France, Italy and Lithuania.
69
Delft Technical University is not the first to set its sights on Addis Ababa. ETH Zurich started a collaboration with
EiABC in 2006, resulting a number of publications.
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bringing together knowledge of (mass) affordable housing schemes and knowledge of local
conditions. A reciprocal exchange of knowledge and expertise is paramount to this ambition.
The GHS is not a one off project. Instead, it will gain full strength after running a number of
times, on different locations. At the moment of writing, the studio has run only once but with a
similar studio set in Chandigarh (India) about to begin, the first step toward comparative, global
research is made.
Learning in Addis
A short account of the experiences of the first GHS group, in Addis Ababa, will serve to
elucidate the working method of the GHS. An extrapolation of this working method to future
GHS‘s should give an impression of the full depth of the studio‘s ambitions.
The group that went to visit Addis Ababa, stayed in the city for one week, before going back to
Delft to finish the project there. The week in Addis was crucial, because only by visiting the
design area one can collect enough information and knowledge about local conditions to
successfully develop affordable housing schemes. The program of that first week was
established in close collaboration with the architecture faculty of the university of Addis Ababa:
EiABC. The students took part in a lectures series on a variety of subjects and in an intense
workshop on the theme of ‗the private and the collective‘. Ethiopian students took part in both
the lectures series and the workshop, teaming up with their Delft colleagues.
The part of the program that took place outside the grounds of EiABC acquainted the students
with the actual situation in Addis Ababa. It showed them the process that the city is in to rid
itself from its slum areas. At present, an estimated 80 % off Addis‘s population resides in so
called kebele-housing projects. These chaotic and ramshackle looking neighbourhoods consist
of government owned houses and lack all but the most primitive form of sanitation, services and
amenities. With its economy on the rise and Addis Ababa‘s population expected to grow
(through rural immigration) from its present 3 million to 8 million in 2025 70, the Ethiopian
government launched in 2004 a huge overhaul of its kebele-housing stock, an operation called
the Grand Housing Project. The initial goals were to build 200.000 new homes in a period of 5
years and although these numbers weren‘t quite achieved the Grand Housing Project has a
clearly visible impact on the city. All around Addis so called condominium buildings arise,
grouped together in clusters, built up out of concrete frames and brickwork infill. Although the
majority of these new buildings does not go beyond five storeys, that is still a big increase
compared to the one-storey reality of the kebele-housing. Working with local students proved
invaluable, since it allowed the Delft students to enter the slums and to talk to the inhabitants.
Lectures by Professor Dick van Gameren on the Dutch history of affordable housing and by
Harald Mooij on the analytical drawing practice that is a staple of the Delft architecture
curriculum, infused the students with theoretic knowledge. Lectures by Fasil Giarghis, Elias
Yitbarek and Bisrat Kifle provided essential knowledge of the Grand Housing Project and of the
city‘s social structures. Dirk Hebel, formerly head of the architecture department of EiABC,
scrutinized the construction methods used for the Grand Housing Project, calling them
unsustainable.
The next nine weeks of the project took place in Delft. Under tutelage of Dutch teachers, the
students turned their workshop proposals, which were in essence urban design schemes, into
designs for building blocks and collective spaces. Strong emphasis lay on the private-collective
relationship, on the individual dwelling plans and on the construction methods. During this time
the students attended further lectures, by experts from Russia, India and China, which provided
70
Dirk Hebel, Quo Vadis Addis?, foreword to: Quo Vadis Addis / Ethiopia?, ETH, Zürich, 2008/2009
80
a wider, more global framework to the issue of affordable housing.71 For the final presentation
local experts from EiABC were brought in as visiting critics, reaffirming the Global Housing
Studio‘s dedication to reciprocity of knowledge exchange.
Considerations
Obviously, the brevity of the project (10 weeks) and the inexperience of the students limits the
‗weight‘ of the end results. It might also come across as cavalier to suggest that a week‘s visit to
Addis Ababa is enough to collect all necessary knowledge and that solutions can be ‗issued‘
from within the walls of the Delft faculty of Architecture.
These considerations may be part of a larger base of criticism towards the GHS, namely that
the whole endeavour is rather naïve. This critique not only involves the short studio span but
also the overall complexity of the issues at play. It seems very reasonable to state that the
Grand Housing Project isn‘t so much an architectural or urban project, as it is a political and
economic one. In this financial and political reality, the place of architecture is actually at the
end: architects and urban designers can only render in concrete and brick the decisions that are
made ‗higher up‘. This seems particularly true for Addis Ababa, where strict economic
considerations limit architectural manoeuvring space to a minimum. To think that developing
alternative models for affordable housing based on a rudimentary understanding of the
problems at hand as well as without having any ability to influence the existing field of economic
and political forces, seems indeed slightly naïve.72
Two examples from the GHS Addis Ababa studio, illustrate the merit of the considerations
mentioned above. First, many of the Delft proposals involved trying to recreate some of the
aspects of the kebele-projects that were deemed of great value but that were all but lost in the
new Grand Housing Project schemes. They involved the collective use of outdoor space and the
use, as a spatial model, of the ‗compound‘: a walled cluster of private dwellings around a shared
collective space. Also the existence of shops was often cited as a quality of kebele-projects that
warrants recreation in the new models. In neither case however, was sufficient grip attained on
the exact conditions that would make such spaces and shops work. As a result, these aspects
of the Delft models were often speculative at best.
Another example of a degree of naivety manifesting itself was in the prolific use of rammed
earth as a construction method. It is no doubt that Dirk Hebel‘s passionate lecture on the subject
prompted the use of this method. However, thorough understanding of the method and the
material was not available in Delft, and neither was a good understanding of the economic and
practical feasibility of rammed earth as a means to provide mass affordable housing.
Some of these issues can be addressed in future studios, by more specified lectures and more
refined methods of analysis. The possibility should also be acknowledged that the developed
models could be adjusted so as to make them comply with the actual needs: the fact that in their
present state they may not be exactly right, does not render them completely useless.
71
Lectures were held by Cherenet Zegeye and Dirk Hebel (Ethiopia), Liu Xiaodu and Daan Roggeveen (China),
Sergey Skuratov and Bart Goldhoorn (Russia), PK Das and Robert Verrijt (India). Lectures available at:
http://tudelftbb.collegerama.nl/wordpress/alle-opleidingen/openbare-presentaties/# (>TUDelft - Public Lectures
>Faculty >Architecture >Lecture series - Capita Selecta >2012)
72
Consider the fact that the new homes are distributed through a lottery system, which completely neglects existing
social structures. Source: Emilie van Look and Caroline Newton, ―Stadsvernieuwing in ‗booming‘ Addis Abeba,‖
Agora; magazine voor sociaalruimtelijke vraagstukken 27-2 (2011), 24-27
81
But what to do then with regard to the political and economic reality? What purpose does it
serve to develop models and alternatives when ‗bigger‘ forces steer solutions in a different
direction altogether? At this moment, Chinese developers are building residential complexes in
Ethiopia, using models that suffice in, say, Shanghai, but that are wholly unsuitable for Addis
Ababa. The why‘s and how‘s for this are outside the architect‘s scope, let alone his
controllability.
Still, this might actually be the strength of the Global Housing Studio. Attractive solutions that,
although well informed, do not completely comply with the existing power structure could in fact
be so attractive that they may influence that very power structure. In other words: by simplifying
reality, which is inevitable in any educational assignment, the Global Housing Studio redirects
the primacy of a solution for the problem of affordable housing to architecture and urban design.
At least for a short while.
When these solutions are presented in a comparable and convincing manner, as the GHS
intends, the whole complex reality may be altered slightly as a result of it.
Typical kebele-housing in Addis Ababa
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Exterior and interior images of Grand Housing Project dwelling units.
Figure ground plan of the kebele-site that was used for the Global Housing Studio ‗Addis Ababa‘
83
Spatial models developed by students from the Global Housing Studio ‗Addis Ababa‘. Image from studio booklet by
Rohan Varma.
Design proposal by Alessandra Covini (It)
84
Design proposal by Alessandra Covini (It)
85
Research in Architecture: Reflection on Three Approaches

Linking Research and Design
Bernard Colenbrander
Bernard Colenbrander is full Professor of Architectural History and Theory since 2005 at the Department of the Built
Environment at Eindhoven University of Technology, the Netherlands. Previously, he was chief curator at The
Netherlands Architecture Institute (NAI) and project leader Cultural Planning, at the Ministry of Education, Culture and
Science (OCW), and is active on many boards.
Ana Pereira Roders

[email protected]
Ana Pereira Roders is Assistant Professor in Cultural Heritage and Sustainability, at Eindhoven University of
Technology, the Netherlands. She is co-editor of the Journal of Cultural Heritage Management and Sustainable
Development, Emerald. Since 2009, she leads the research ―World Heritage Cities, Outstanding Universal Value and
Sustainability‖, together with UNESCO World Heritage Centre which includes leading a graduation studio on World
Heritage cities.
Loes Veldpaus
Loes Veldpaus is a PhD researcher in Urban Heritage Policy at the Department of the Built Environment at
Eindhoven University of Technology, the Netherlands since2011. She is teaching in the graduation studio on World
Heritage cities and is reviews-editor for the Journal of Cultural Heritage Management and Sustainable Development.
Abstract
Research in Architecture is not new, it is usually known as analysis or pre-design

stage. Architects get acquainted with program requirements, project context
and/or other inspiring works, including concepts on theory, philosophy or history.
Seldom are the architects who design without any conceptual constraints.
Ranging from a pure mental exercise to a fully noted process, each architect
processes the available knowledge and converts it into a project proposal. As
such, architecture is always somehow a product of a research into a solution for
a problem.
In this paper we analyze and discuss the pros and cons of three approaches
linking research and design: evidence-based design, design in analogy and free
design. Besides the state-of-the-art, this paper illustrates the approaches with
final design projects by graduates (2009-2012) from the department of the Built
Environment, Eindhoven University of Technology, the Netherlands, to exchange
the experience gained over the past years while applying the different
approaches in MSc graduate studios in Architecture.
The paper discusses the role of Research in Architecture, elaborating on the

argument that research and design have seen different forms of integration
related to paradigmatic shifts in history. A school of Architecture should not be
alienated to those; it should explore and reflect upon their impact. As such, the
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proposed reflections shall also include a discussion on the inherent raise of

transparency and educational quality, as well as, on the added value of teaching
multiple approaches within the context of one single School.
Keywords: Architecture education; Research; Design; Evidence-based Design;

Design in Analogy, Free Design
Introduction
Design is part of the academic practice and it is there in various functionalities. For example, for
architectural historians the products of design - shaped as built artifacts, architectural and urban
plans or landscape visions - are the main subject of their research. For them these products are
the stepping stones in the evolutionary patterns that can be traced in the history of facts and
incidents. Such, as a subject, is the role that design plays for historians. Design as a subject of
research however, is not what is aimed at in this paper. What interests us is something else: it is
how design techniques may function in academic practice as a method to acquire knowledge
and as a crucial extension of research, meant to test a certain hypothesis. This is an intriguing
topic for reflection.
Research and Design
Many of the possibilities (and also many of the complications) of design in this definition are yet
to be discovered. But during the last decade it has become urgent, at least for architectural
faculties, to develop strategies to improve understanding of how design may be used
successfully in academic terms. What is the background for this urgency? In many cases
architectural faculties have their domicile in a scientific environment where the quality
assessment of research output has become far more strict and bureaucratic during the last ten
or twenty years than it used to be. In the competition between sciences architecture has proven
to be a lame duck so far, because the academic importance of design, as the core of the
discipline, could not be substantiated in solid proof.
Perhaps the reason for this is that design is not in the first place a tool for a better
understanding of reality, but rather, a mental instrument for creating something new. This
‗something new‘ is not per se meant to grow out of the blue, but implies that design aims at
something that did not exist before. Design is a generic activity, part of many domains in
society, leading to the creation of new artifacts in physical reality, although also services and
human experiences may be the subject for design. In architecture we tend to concentrate on the
artifact in physical reality; design, in that case, is a mental projection in the shape of a prototype,
model or drawing, of which the attributes, specifications, characteristics and qualities can be
observed and tested. It is not too daring to compare an architectural design with an experiment
in the natural sciences, that indeed is also suitable for a check on the hypothesis that was taken
as a starting point.
So, when the design practice in architecture is comparable with the experiment in the natural
sciences, why does architecture fail in academic competition? It is not because the relevance of
architecture for science or society is a problem in principle. It is also not because of the
impossibility to publish the results of a design in a journal, or even a peer-reviewed journal.
Everybody can see that designs are the subject of a great variety of publications on
architecture, at least since Vitruvius. The problem may be however that the quality of a design
may be very difficult to assess in scientifically maintainable terms, because a fundamental
feature of an architectural design escapes the routine of scientific evaluation. In architecture
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aspects of aesthetics will equal the technological or practical characteristics. Architecture, in

other words, is also - and even inevitably - about beauty and taste – and taste is not scientific
verifiable, at least not as easy as the verification of technique or practicality of a certain solution
is. This appears to be a severe problem, but it is not the end of everything.
Design and Research
A solution seems to wait just around the corner, because the different character that
architecture claims to have, being also an art, is not necessarily a stumbling block. A recent
official investigation into the apparent problems of integrating architecture in the academic
format of science came to the clear conclusion that quality may be measured adequately, as
long as the comparisons are made within disciplines (KNAW, 2010). In other words: it depends
on the clarity of standards that are accustomed within architecture, exercised academically, if
the discipline may be considered a science or not. In even more other words: if architecture
needs to become a scientific occupation, standards need to be defined. A standard for
measuring the quality of architecture can impossibly be as sharp edged as is common in the
natural sciences. We will have to work with more subjective, but still quite effective (if used with
care and serious knowledge) categories. From different bureaucratic origins, also from what is
accepted as a standard in the academic practice of industrial design, this paper proposes the
following selection of parameters for judging the quality of a design:
 technical originality;
 cultural relevance;
 methodological coherence;
 level of craftsmanship;
 functionality on different scale levels;
 integration of whole and parts.
There is no reason why a round table of peer experts would not be able to judge a design in
reasonable terms, using these parameters. Precisely because, standards for a scientific based
architecture need to be defined, it is important that architecture schools invest their time in
defining the position of design in their academic ambitions, and more in particular, dare to
experiment with combinations of research and design. The addition of a research component
will certainly help to enforce the rationality of what the design proposes. Research by design, as
it is commonly indicated, is not a dead horse, as few like to call it, but a topic with urgency.
The department of the Built Environment, in Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e), the
Netherlands, may seem at first sight a curious place to concentrate on this topic, because the
absence of sensitivity for aspects of artistic-ness in the very genes of the department. The
department of the Built Environment was founded (in 1967) with the pretension of concentrating
on the technical features of building as a clear cut physical science, rather than taking
architectural design seriously as an art, with all its subjectivity. But perhaps it has exactly been
this concentration on science that has seduced members of this team in TU/e during the last
decade to join this interest for the measurability of architecture quality as an exact science, by
investigating possible roles of design in research and vice versa. The platform for this
experience were until now mainly the graduation studios, demanding the complete final year in
the curriculum. These studios tend to function as collective platforms for research and design.
To prepare architecture students for a project with a certain research ambition, a methodological
base is offered to the students in the curriculum of the preceding years. In projects and courses
of the bachelor and early master phase emphasis is laid on a basic command of typo-
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morphological research traditions, for example of Italian (Muratori, 1959 and Caniggia, 1979) or
British origins (Conzen, 1960 and Whitehand, 1979). Also, aiming at the more specific levels of
the grammar of building design, the theory of Monestiroli (2002) is offered during courses, so
that students may be expected to understand the basic approaches to contextualized design.
They must be able to distinguish between contrast, mimesis and analogy as starting points for
producing architecture. We want them to have sophisticated knowledge, based on solid theory,
on how to fit a building into a context. This does not imply an orthodox view on the issue of
contextual architecture from the side of the tutors. Tutors are not supposed to force their
architectural signature on the students. The ideal is an approach to architecture and its context
with a certain flexibility, leading to a variety of solutions. What these solutions should have in
common however, is that they all must answer the obligations of designing with scientific
standards, whereby taken positions must be justified as precise as possible.
THREE APPROACHES LINKING RESEARCH AND DESIGN
Follow the reflection on three different approaches to design in a certain context, each mirroring
a different attitude towards the interaction between research and design.
Evidence-based Design
The first example is a result of one of our studios that concentrate on locations that are
designated by Unesco as World Heritage. These locations are maintained following the
indications of the so called Outstanding Universal Value (OUV). The Amsterdam canal district is
a good example of this and the executed research aims at identifying and analyzing the
architectural features that convey the OUV and to uncover potential threats. In this particular
case, the full Herengracht has been chosen as study area and what has been done is to register
and map what has happened to what is now considered OUV within the more than 500
buildings in this area in six historical steps, starting in 1770. The research concentrated on
attributes that convey the OUV according to the official documents, such as facade,
streetscape, typology, style and silhouette. Discoveries were, for example, that, when
distinguishing between base, middle and top of the facades, the top was adapted more often
than the middle part and the bottom. Another discovery was that by far most of the changes
took place before the middle of the 20th century: apparently the city image got frozen
afterwards. More dangerous and even threatening for the OUV was what was noted considering
the developments at the inside of the buildings under research: building consolidation,
combining individual parcels into larger units, was identified as an influential process affecting
the building typology. In connection with this phenomenon it was also noted that the silhouette
of the Herengracht became increasingly flatter during the centuries, while the building height
grew gradually, as did the building volume. As could be expected, another slow trend that was
registered was the decrease of mixed functionality within the buildings: approaching current
reality, residential and commercial functions seem to exclude one another (Swart and Claus,
2012; Swart et al, 2012).
This was what was mapped during the research phase of the studio. Decided was to position
the design straightforward as a possible solution for the noted threats, especially targeting the
aspect of consolidation as a result of the request for larger building volumes per function. This
increase as such is not something that could be denied or reversed. Also opposed to advocating
the reconstruction of original buildings (this appears to be fashionable in nowadays Amsterdam)
this project offers a solution for a ‗large scale‗ program, adapting at the same time to the intrinsic
qualities and historic value of existing buildings. It tries to do both: accept the functional needs,
but also the constraints of the context. For Claus (2012), choosing the former headquarters of
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the municipal telephone service as object for redesign, the solution was not to be found in
redesigning the facades, but in turning to the inside of the block. By rearranging the inner court
between two monumental canal facades, space is created for the Amsterdam fashion Hotel, a
function that suits very well to the present demands on the canal zone. The facades remain
nearly intact, while a voluminous program is given elbowroom, without denying the inner fabric
of the building or its connection to the facades. As such this design is answering present
functional needs, and fitting in a sustainable historic fabric. Very far away from the wish to
create something spectacular, the design task in this case is interpreted as a response to a real
problem, diagnosed during thorough research. Doing just that, without any virtuosity, this project
probably comes closest to evidence-based design.
Figure 1: Section of the Herengracht 295 - Singel 340, Amsterdam (Claus, 2012)
Design in Analogy
The second example of a graduation project is coming from another studio, but again situated in
the Amsterdam canal zone. It shows greater freedom concerning how the research is further
developed into a design. This project is based on a time consuming investigation of the logic of
parceling the plots of the various extensions plans of Amsterdam during the 16th en 17th
centuries. Schlatmann (2010) leaned on the outcome of the work of architectural historians, for
example of Jaap Evert Abrahamse (2010), who has accentuated in his recent dissertation the
pragmatic intentions with which the plots in the canal zone were shaped and divided. In the
three dimensions of realized canal houses the result must be considered the sum of individual
interpretations of how a house should look like, determined by individual needs and tastes. At
the same time technological, typological and stylistic conventions have clearly attributed to a
archetypical standard of the Amsterdam canal house. This interpretation of the Amsterdam
canal zone reflects the contemporary state of the art in architectural history, that was gratefully
accepted by our student. Therefore, as a research project, this study into the housing of the
canal zone followed a not unusual, not very adventurous pattern. But complexity enters the
scene when one tries, as our student has done, to use the research for something else than
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only registration, namely as a starting point for a design. What could be a relevant new
interpretation of the deeply founded type of the canal zone house? The conclusion drawn
started with the taken position that the pragmatic base of the plotting of the canal zone had led
to an exuberant collection of architectural solutions, also culminating in the superb architecture
of Hendrick de Keyser, Adriaen Dortsman and Philps Vingboons.
Thinking about a relevant new chapter in the story of this heroic architecture, the next step was
that in programmatic terms the house as such does not deliver a very valuable source of
inspiration anymore. Issues of program have become more or less architecturally indifferent. But
perhaps the solution could be found in architecture in itself: in themes that only address specific
building characteristics. Exactly this is what our student did, concentrating on designs for three
plots, each with an own dominant architectural theme: respectively the entrance of light, the
distribution of rooms and the circulation patterns.
Figure 2: The house of light (Schlatmann, 2010)
In the second example a solid, coherent research phase is extended quite easily into a design
phase, by enlarging a few selected architectural features - and leave out all the rest. In the next
example to be presented here, a new methodological element enters, namely a preference for
mental association as booster of both research and design. But also in the case of this third
example the student was supposed to start his studies by accepting the map of the city (again
Amsterdam) as a neutral ground for investigation and design. Soon, Linders (2010)
concentrated on a specific zone of the map: not the canal zone this time, but the long girdle
circumscribing it, along the so-called Singelgracht. What can be found in that zone is an uneven
collection of rather large buildings that do not fit within the historical city and that were pushed
out: big hotels, banks and so on. Continuing the research, the map of this zone of the city was
not so much accepted for the richness of everything that might be discovered there, but mainly
investigated for possible building sites. The search for the empty plot, that could be filled with
something new, became target number one for this student. He found one next to the popular
concert hall Paradiso. Then followed a series of short time, improvised investigations into
aspects of his interest, considering the wish to design a building there. The first subject was the
villa: in its architectural appearance, but also in its sophisticated upper class functionality.
Another subject was the characteristics of stubborn buildings, like the infamous ‗Pepper & Salt‘-
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duo across the Rijksmuseum: buildings that are not meant to communicate in all directions but
stand very much on their own. A few other, tiny subjects for study were added to all this, for
example a drawing research into the variation of window frames used in the historic city. As an
outcome, the design follows. The design that was produced in the end has become a kind of
assemblage, in which the miscellaneous adding up of interests is brought together. The project
demonstrates how loose research may lead to a kind of design in which the inspirational
sources are digested and brought to a more or less coherent complex.
Figure 3: Hotel room and Building south facade (Linders, 2010)
Free Design
Complexity, but then in an exceeded version, is also the main feature of the last project that is
presented here. It is one of the outcomes of a studio that took Robert Venturi‘s Complexity and
Contradiction as a starting point. Question raised was if we would be able to discover explicit
system in the richness of associations and cases in this small book, which is a very charming
book, but also a book that leaves many aspects implicit. We succeeded in evoking them: it
proved possible to elaborate the contents of a book into a scheme that distinguished a complete
‗tree‘ of grammatical features, available for design.
We also applied the tricks that were derived from the Venturi book to specific buildings, often
originating in the Baroque era, because that period excelled in architectural virtuosity. After
producing the Venturi scheme as a collective performance of the studio, one of the students
decided to continue working on only one feature of the scheme: the so-called ‗vestigial element‗.
The vestigial element is a specific component of a building intentionally meant to refer to
another reality or historical period: it is an element that is chosen by the designer to be
integrated in a building in order to heighten the richness of meaning. Examples are the ‗spolia‘
that were part of the extended building history (taking 170 years) of St. Peter‘s Church in Rome.
Janssen (2013) discovered the wide spread use of the vestigial element in historical
architecture, but also its perverted versions in postmodern architecture: for example in James
Stirling‘s fake references to historical buildings in his National Galerie in Stuttgart. A vestigial
element could also have a life size version, with the same function of reference: it could be a
‗sign‗, like Adolf Loos‘s famous contribution to the Chicago Tribune Tower-competition. When
the vestigial element could be life size, it might also lend itself for an adaptation: perhaps the
vestigial element could transform into the abstraction of an archetype.
Where would it all lead to, this piling up of research tracks, originating in the idea of the true
nature of the vestigial element? The student decided to combine the layered aspects in a
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suitable building assignment, that would be able to bear this richness of meaning. She chose to
design a Dutch library and study centre in Rome and make it into an all-embracing reference to
the Baroque of its urban context. A claim that this design answers in all of its details the
premises of the research would not be maintainable. But that doesn‘t undermine the relevance
of the intense interaction between what is investigated and what is drawn. The research is
functional here as a kind of a melting pot, out if which the design - admitted: after some trial and
error - starts to produce itself almost automatically.
Figure 4: Section of the Building (Janssen,

2013)
REFLECTION
Presented in the preceding pages were four examples, following basically three approaches
towards academic design. How different they may be, they all show design firmly rooted in
research, with the context (and history in general) as a huge source for inspiration. Context is
not always easy to handle: if it is cultivated as something immovable, context may degenerate
into a dictate from which no escape is possible. Design, in that case, is a victim of cultural
inertia. A design cannot start without free association; it needs a certain courage to cross limits,
even if these limits are rooted in respectable scientific logic.
This is why evidence-based design needs a certain tolerance for deviations from the
predictable. The education of an architect, the refore, is a sensitive process, in which both the
objective and the subjective standards for designing must be brought into balance. The judging
of what makes a design ‗good‘ or ‗bad‘ is the proof of the pudding. Counting and measuring
alone is not enough: solid reasoning is obligatory, following the given parameters of quality.
Aesthetics are not excluded from this process, but as the given examples show, aesthetics is
plural – which makes the judgment of the quality of a design an act of truth finding, each time
again
REFERENCES
Abrahamse, J.E. (2010). De grote uitleg van Amsterdam: stadsontwikkeling in de zeventiende

eeuw, Bussum: Thoth.
93
Caniggia, G. and Maffei, G.L. (2001), Architectural Composition and Building Typology.
Interpreting Basic Building, Florence: Alinea Editrice.
Claus, K. (2012) Amsterdam Fashion Hotel: Critical redevelopment of a large scale building in
the Amsterdam canal district as case study, Eindhoven: Eindhoven University of Technology.
volume 2. (unpublished thesis)
Conzen, M.R.G. (1960), Alnwick, Northumberland. A Study in Town-Planning Analysis, Institute

of British Geographers Publication 27. London: George Philip.
Janssen, R. (2013), Een Barokke Bricolage, Eindhoven: Eindhoven University of Technology.

(unpublished thesis)
KNAW (2010) Quality assessment in the design and engineering disciplines. A systematic
framework, Amsterdam: Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW), p. 25.
Linders, T. (2010) Onderzoek naar villatypologie en de Negentiende eeuw, Eindhoven:

Eindhoven University of Technology. (unpublished thesis)
Monestiroli, A. (2005), The Metope and the Triglyph: Nine Lectures in Architecture, Amsterdam:
SUN Publishers.
Muratori, S. (1959) Studi per una Operante Storia Urbana di Venezia I, in Palladio n. 3-4, pp.
97-209, (2nd ed.) Rome: Istituto Poligrafico dello Stato, 1960.
Schlatmann, M. (2010) Delirious Amsterdam, Eindhoven: Eindhoven University of Technology.

Swart, J. and Claus, K. (2012), Amsterdam Canal District - Locating and mapping attributes of
Outstanding Universal Value, Eindhoven: Eindhoven University of Technology. volume 1.
Swart et al. (2012), World Heritage cities : Amsterdam's canal district case study. HERITAGE
2012: Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Heritage and Sustainable
Development, (1, pp. 175-186). Barcelos: Green Lines Institute.
Whitehand, J.W.R. (1981), The Urban Landscape: Historical Development and Management,
Institute of British Geographers Special Publication 13, London: Academic Press.
94
The Architectural Design Studio as a Series of Research

Programs
Jorge Alberto Mejia Hernandez

[email protected]
Master in History and Theory of Art and Architecture (Universidad Nacional de Colombia, 2002) Master in
Architecture (Universidad Nacional de Colombia, 2008) PhD Candidate (TUDelft, present)
Designer, researcher, educator and author with interests in architectural form, methodology and contemporary
conditions.
Tom Avermaete
[email protected]
Tom Avermaete has a special research interest in the post-war public realm and the architecture of the city in
Western and non-Western contexts.   His PhD focused on the work of the French contributors to the Team 10 group:
Candilis-Josic-Woods. He was an external lecturer at Copenhagen University (1996-2005), researcher and lecturer at
the Catholic University Leuven (1997-2003) and coordinator of the Centre for Flemish Architectural Archives (2003-
2006). He is the author ofAnother Modern: the Post-War Architecture and Urbanism of Candilis-Josic-Woods(2005)
and editor of Wonen in Welvaart: Woningbouw en wooncultuur in Vlaanderen (2007),Architectural Positions: On
Architecture, Modernity and the Public Sphere (2009),Colonial Modern: Aesthetics of the Past, Rebellions for the
Future (2010),Structuralism Reloaded: Rule-Based Design in Architecture and Urbanism (2011), andHotel Lobbies:
Anonymous Domesticity and Public Discretion (2013). He is an editor ofOASE Architectural Journal, The Nordic
Journal of Architecture and one of the initiators of the research and exhibition projectIn the Desert of Modernity:
Colonial Planning and After (Berlin 2008, Casablanca 2009, Marseille 2013). He currently prepares the bookMaking a
New World? Re-Forming and Designing Modern Communities (2013) and an exhibition at theCCA (Montreal, CA) on
two major urban experiments in the Global South: Chandigarh and Casablanca (2013).
Sien Van Dam

[email protected]
Sien van Dam graduated in 1989 from the Delft University of Technology, Faculty of Architecture. From 1986 till 2006
she worked in the office of Emilios Chlimintzas. After working as a guest teacher in Delft since 1990, she permanently
joined the staff in 2000; first as coordinator, later as a teacher of architectural design. The focus of her interest is
upon the theme of architectural identity, and how this can be stated and read in contemporary architecture. This
theme is the research topic of the Master 1 course of the studio Mediatheque in collaboration with Tom Avermaete.
Sien was also involved in the publication of "Idee en Architectuur" on museums, and the publication of a
documentation of small public buildings. Currently she is working on a research project for the multiple use of school
buildings.
Abstract
The following paper explores the theoretical and practical implications of applying
the methodology of scientific research programs as a framework for both
95
structuring and evaluating the discussion that gravitates around the architectural
studio. Based on the assumption that architecture is a source of knowledge in its
own right, it aims to define the fields of heuristic activity where deliberation and
decision-making occur, investigating their nature, scope and reach. Under the
assumption that each architectural entity is an intervention within a field
populated by general and specific ideas and events, the intention to map the
ways in which these programs compete and collaborate at a positive heuristic
level allows for a broader understanding of architecture‘s problematic nature and
the professional‘s alternatives and capacities to deal with it. A revision of
Stanford Anderson‘s interpretation of the methodology, as defined by Imre
Lakatos, will be followed by the description of case studies, stemming from the
MSc 1 Studio Public Realm taught at Delft University of Technology, in which it is
made evident that operating within this particular model allows the designer to
intervene the physical and disciplinary context with both well defined architectural
and broader cultural tools, while acknowledging the manifold implications of his
or her work.
Keywords: design, design studio, teaching, methodology, science
Conventional Architectural Education
It is not uncommon for studio and seminar courses taught at most faculties of architecture to
confront tutors and students alike with the imperative need to conciliate what are usually
assumed as the opposing theoretical and projective realms of the profession.
While many colleagues still assume studio activity is essentially problem-solving (dealing with a
brief and a particular situation, and leading to the production of a project); others believe
courses on theory, history and critique feed on a rather hermeneutic motivation, providing ex-
post explanations for what remains empirical.
Roles are clear. The studio is a space for design, the classroom demands study. Drawings and
models belong there, books and writings here. Seldom does anyone stop to ask where
knowledge lies (or grows, is transmitted or fails), within this scheme. Everyone seems to know,
however, that it lies somewhere. Architecture cannot be taught, but it can be learned.73
Projects simply occur, the way they always have, and hopefully always will. They become, by
trial and error, imitation and repetition, within a pedagogic field that contains as much
knowledge as it disseminates vices. A problem is posed, a solution is required, and a set of
tools are put forward to perform the day‘s task.
Emulating their professional colleagues, students decide how to place an object on a site,
choose a typology that suits their intention, and organize the constituent parts of a building
according to intention and need74. Other projects might be analyzed as referents – their
73
Correa, Charles: ―Learning from Ekalavya‖, in Pollak, Martha (ed.): The Education of the Architect. Historiography,
Urbanism and the Growth of Architectural Knowledge: Essays Presented to Stanford Anderson. Cambridge (Mass.)
and London: MIT Press, 1997
74
―Theoreticians such as Francesco Milizia never defined type as such, but statements like the following seem to be
anticipatory: ‗the comfort of any building consists of three principal items: its site, its form, and the organization of its
parts‘.‖ Rossi, Aldo, from The Architecture of the City, in Ockman, Joan: Architecture Culture, 1943 – 1968: A
Documentary Anthology. New York: Rizzoli / Columbia Books on Architecture, 2007
96
aesthetic, technical, functional and representational features are taken as guidelines to be

imitated (but not always reflected upon). In the end, most decisions will result from conventional
agreement, tacit or deliberate. If justifications are clear, or resonate with the tastes of the
beholders of canon, the endeavour will succeed.
Reflection tends to be subservient to this process, granting it lustre, dignity and intellectual
importance. A problem can be solved, but it can also be solved and linked to a lofty idea, and
thus be better explained, adumbrated with more intelligent justifications or seen as part of a
style or a movement. Designs can solve problems, yes; but they can also represent,
conceptualize or transcend pragmatism, being both useful and smart.
Mediatheque Marseille , MSc1 Studio Public Realm, TUDelft
Oppositions
Underlying this well known state of affairs lies (aside from a deliberate avoidance of inquiries on
the epistemological statute of architecture itself, as a crucial element in conventional pedagogy)
a convenient notion of oppositions; a simplification akin to Cartesianism75, that conveniently
divides subject-matters, assumes fixed classifications and static categories to explain even the
most complex phenomena.
Architecture happens, anyway, and is a source of knowledge in its own right. But the
transmission and growth of any knowledge stemming from architectural activity is made
unnecessarily tortuous; dichotomies weakening the cognitive apparatus of what should normally
work as a sophisticated mechanism, obviously inoperative when dismembered.
The gap between subject and object is overarching, throughout the history of the built
environment, but is conspicuously evident in the amount and nature of a myriad attempts to
theoretically define, and practically operate on, the category of modernism.
Hundreds of scholars have struggled to prove the efficacy of one definition after another, each
more complete and intelligent than the other, each accounting for more projects and authors,
especially those considered difficult, given their exceptional nature, not quite fitting the rules put
forward to delimit the modernist realm.
Rationalist, organic, high-modernist, realist or rationalist (with the prefix neo- added sometimes),
other-modernist, functionalist, expressionist and post-modern – under these and other such
names, coined to fit the distance from Scharoun to Jacobsen, or sit Wright beside Loos and
Charles Moore, lies a basic set of assumptions and antinomies, still feeding much of
contemporary architectural culture.
Principal, among these assumptions, is the exceptional role granted to design in the
75
Vesely, Dalibor: Architecture in the Age of Divided Representation. Cambridge, London: MIT Press, 2004. pp. 58,
178
97
architectural profession. The intention to establish clear ties to the progressive nature of the
artistic avant-garde enforces the role of the architect as an artist, operating at a level akin to
abstraction, while remaining fundamentally responsible for the exceptional project. Based on
this premise the architect is supposed to deal with originality, and to be in control.
In this vein, theory is seen as a crutch, almost: useful for treading the path of very specific,
almost periphery intellectual courses. If the project is the object (tangible and immediate), theory
is subjective, and occurs in the most abstract of levels. Whatever happens in between both
realms of activity, or how they can relate to each other, remains unclear.
The last polarizing assumption implies a black and white reading of time. According to it,
modernity and its architectural condition represent a schism with the past. A break with tradition
as an authority governing the evolution of architectural ideas is seen as the result of the
irreconcilability between the new and the old.
In an effort to respond to the apparent insufficiency of previous attempts to define modernist

architecture, the work of American scholar Sarah Williams Goldhagen is especially sharp in the
revision of the nature of architectural activity as a whole, while focusing on the difficulties posed
by anomalies in what has consistently been read as a movement.
―The codified image of the modern movement has been successfully dismantled, but no new
framework has been advanced in its place that will help make sense of modernism in
architecture…‖76 she says, and then adds: ―We need a framework of analysis that accounts for
both the modern movement‘s historical reality and its complexity.77 Such a framework would
illuminate the radical reorientation in architectural culture and architectural forms after the First
World War. It would identify the various strains within, and account for the internal complexity of,
the new movement that emerged. It would necessarily be dynamic, because modernism in
architecture was a coping mechanism for men and women living in an age of change and
invention.78 Only such a framework would make it possible to understand and explain the
trajectory of the modern movement both in the years after its initial codification and after the
Second World War.‖79
After understanding that a loose framework explains the nature of entities that tend to be
dynamic much better than a definition; and that more than the objects themselves what is
relevant is the relations these objects establish among themselves; Williams Goldhagen argues
that (modernist) architecture is not the product of a discourse, but itself a discourse, in its own
right. ―Derived from the Medieval Latin ‗argument‘ and the Latin ‗to run about, the word
‗discourse‘ is typically used to mean a series of discussions and debates on a relatively closed
set of questions. Figuratively, a discourse is a bunch of people running about having an
argument – or more correctly, a series of arguments and debates, which are related to one
another and governed by a set of underlying concerns or principles. To explore the definition
further, a discourse is an extended expression of thoughts on a subject or related collection of
subjects, conducted by a self-selected group of people within a discrete set of identifiable social
institutions, and lasting over a bounded, which does not necessarily mean short, period of time.
76
Williams Goldhagen, Sarah: ―Coda: Reconceptualizing the Modern‖, in Williams Goldhagen, Sarah and Legault,
Rejean (eds.): Anxious Modernisms. Montreal, Cambridge: CCA / MIT Press, 2000, pg. 302
77
―In this essay I will not discuss modernism‘s intellectual and cultural roots, which is a project distinctly different from
the one undertaken here‖ – footnote 5 in the original, Ibid. pg. 321
78
―Anthony Giddens, The Consequences of Modernity (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1990), 37.‖ – footnote 6
on the original, Ibid. pg. 321
79
Ibid., pg. 302
98
It is focused around an essentially coherent (although not always articulated) group of questions
and has its own jargon, its own contested terms.‖80
Mediatheque Marseille , MSc1 Studio Public Realm, TUDelft
Towards Methodology
The implications of this problem-shift resonate with previous inquires led by Dr. Stanford
Anderson, from the MIT. For more than four decades, his consistent body of work has dealt with
the most relevant questions posed by contemporary architectural culture, including the role of
convention, the nature of function and the introduction of scientific methods and models into the
architectural discussion.
Answering to the aforementioned problematic assumptions posed by the modernist discourse, it

is possible to follow Anderson‘s path towards the incorporation of the methodology of scientific
research programs into the realm of scholarly theory.
A first step consists in revising the role of tradition, based on the critique of the fundamentally
anti-traditional discourse of Reyner Banham. In an extremely strong case for the revision of the
problematic polar opposition between the new and the old, Anderson proposes the theoretical
status and validity of tradition (given its predictive and explicative capacity). ―Even if we were to
accept that such a thing as a qualitative change distinguished modern architecture from that
which preceded it,‖ he says, ―does this liberate us from the past? Is the traditional operational
lore of architecture categorically superseded? Or is the situation of architecture similar to that of
physics, where older hypotheses (…) remain theoretically suggestive or pragmatically
operative?‖ He then concludes by asking a fundamental question: ―Are tradition and technology
hostile opposites which cannot work in concert?‖81
Several years later, he considers the possibility of superseding the most limited interpretation of
theory itself, by introducing the handier figure of a methodology, able to perform as well as any
theory when it comes to provide justifications for the present and foresee possible futures, while
also explaining the performance, in real time, of both objects and events in the full spectrum of
architectural activity.
Edited by Stanford Anderson, the conference papers of the ―Planning for Diversity and Choice
conference, held in 1966, include an enlightening definition of model, by philosophy professor
Dr. Marx W. Wartofsky. ―The prototype of (…) future directed action – in which the future is
more than the blindly inevitable fact of succession in time and includes some envisioned goal as
80
Williams Goldhagen, Sarah: ―Something To Talk About: Modernism, Discourse, Style‖. Journal of the Society of
Architectural Historians, 64, No. 2 (2005), pg. 159
81
Anderson, Stanford: ―Architecture and Tradition that isn‘t ‗Trad, Dad‘‖, in Whiffen, Marcus (ed.), The History, Theory
and Criticism of Architecture. Cambridge (Mass.), The MIT Press, 1965, pg 74
99
its content – I would call a model.‖82 He then continues: ―If we can say that any model,
whenever it is constructed, is a model of the future if it carries this kind of heuristic function
within it, then we can have an untapped source of such models in any number of areas of
thought.‖83
Finally, the introduction of the notion of artifact, imported from the theory of economics,
dissolves the omnipotence of both design and designer, and proposes the built environment as
a collective construction – the result of a confluence of deliberate but also arbitrary forces.
―From the 1930s through the 1950s,‖ – Anderson says – ―the ‗Masters of the Modern Movement‘
(especially the prominent German faction), their architectural followers, but also engineers and a
comprehensive designer such as Fuller, shared the notion that the design process issues in a
‗design object‘ – that is, an object that receives its permanent form according to a clear, pre-
visioned plan. Designers assumed an idealist position projecting their forms upon the world.
Such ‗Form-Givers‘ displayed an authoritarianism made all the more unendurable by the
frequently patent inadequacy of the form to the situation. During the 1960s, in increasing
numbers and with intensifying fervor, social critics, architects, anti-architectural designers
devoted to the example of Fuller, planners and engineers, proclaimed that the city –and even
smaller, architectural environments– are not design objects fulfilling a stated and persisting
program.‖ And he concludes: ―We should recognize such environments as organizations of form
that are (often unforeseen) result of many human actions, as environments that must sustain a
side range of (often unforeseen) human actions. Such an organization of form, in contrast to an
object that is the result of deliberate design, has been termed an ‗artifact84‘.‖85
Research Programs
These steps lead with impeccable logic to a reliance on the theory of science, initially on the
work of Karl Popper, and later on the more sophisticated version of his theories put forward by
his disciple, Imre Lakatos.
―In the initiation of any human activity,‖ Anderson says, ―some ultimate arbitrariness will be
introduced. Design only begins with that risk. The search for rationality in design is not a matter
of eliminating that risk, but rather one of turning that gamble to our advantage. Alternative risks
are available, or can be invented by us. Both the design process and its implementation are
means to give those risks coherent fulfillment while also testing, revising, learning from, and, if
need be, rejecting them. Design, seen in this way, is not some arcane, special process, but is
rather allied to common sense and to the pursuit of rationality. As such, it may be hypothesized
that other studies of rational and practices may serve as the basis, or as models, for the
understanding of design.‖86 And he adds: ―Lakatos‘s distinctive contribution is the shift of the
methodological unit of epistemological analysis from the theory to the ‗research program.‘ A
research program is strongly temporal and historical, though Lakatos is concerned more with
82
Wartofsky, Marx W.: ―Telos and Technique: Models as Modes of Action‖, in Anderson, Stanford (ed.): Planning for
Diversity and Choice: Possible Futures and Their Relation to the Man – Controlled Environment. Cambridge (Mass.):
MIT Press, 1968, pg. 268
83
Ibid, pg. 272
84
Endote no. 4 in the original: ―F.A. Hayek, ‗The Results of Human Action but not of Human Design‘, in his ‗Studies in
Philosophy, Politics and Economics‘ (pp. 96 – 105), London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1967)‖ – In Anderson,
Stanford: ―Environment as Artifact: Methodological Implicatoins‖, Casabella No. 359 – 360, Anno XXXV (1971), pg.
77
85
Ibid, pp. 71 - 73
86
Anderson, Stanford: ―Architectural Design as a System of Research Programs‖, in: Hayes, K. Michael: Architectural
Theory since 1968. Cambridge (Mass.), London: MIT Press. 2000, pg. 493
100
the logic of its development than with a historical account. A research program is built around a
particular problem situation. Lakatos recognizes that more than one research program may be
addressed to any problem situation. Indeed, it is in the competition and comparison of research
programs that Lakatos locates much of the success and rationality of science.‖87
In basic terms, the methodology of scientific research programs constitutes an improvement of

what Lakatos considers flawed in Popper‘s ―naïve‖ falsificationism. Aimed at understanding both
the epistemology of science as a whole, and specifically focused on the growth of knowledge as
an analyzable phenomenon, Lakatos puts forward a model that accounts for the work of
scientists and the relations between their investigations.
More than a theory, Lakatos‘ unit of appraisal is dynamic in nature, confrontational by demand.
―The methodology of scientific research programmes,‖ he says, ―is a new demarcationist
methodology (i.e. a universal definition of progress) which I have been advocating now for some
years and which, it seems to me, improves on previous demarcationist methodologies and at
the same time escapes at least some of the criticisms which elitists and relativists have leveled
against inductivism, falsificationism and the rest. (This) unit of appraisal is not an isolated
hypothesis (or a conjunction of hypotheses): a research programme is rather a special kind of
problemshift. It consists of a developing series of theories.‖88
A set of constituent parts can be identified in such a program. At its very center, and granting it
fundamental tenacity, lies its hard-core, which is heuristically negative (meaning it is not even
discussed) and agreed upon not by argument or reason, but by convention. Equivalent to the
arbitrariness implicit in the artifactual-ness informing the built environment, this core is protected
by a set of auxiliary hypotheses, that contain all the positive heuristics required to maintain the
program operative, and bear the brunt of challenging research programs that dispute the
position of pre-eminence by aspiring to both methodological soundness and evidence of their
problem solving capacity, as well as their ability to account for as many anomalies, and predict
the future with as much accuracy as possible.
Anderson‘s first attempt to land the abstraction of the model in architectural terms admits a
profound revision. By assuming that a research program can be assimilated to a singular
architect‘s investigation on form or function, he basically dismisses key features of the model,
such as the key role played by positive heuristics. In 198489, Anderson puts forward a diptych
delineating the basics of the methodology, and then runs it on a particular case study.
Unfortunately, most of the model‘s features are not accounted for, in the assumption that
Cobrusier‘s project strategies (specifically the framing capacity of the ―Dom-ino‖ scheme and the
derivation of the promenade architecturale from site-specific analyses) are research programs in
their own right – a gross simplification of the scope and reach of the whole model.
A revised version of the model, though, retains Anderson‘s lucid regard for research programs
as problem solving entities, able to supersede the insufficiency of theory; while exploring the
87
Ibid, pg. 494
88
Lakatos, Imre: ―The Copernican revolution in the light of the methodology of scientific research programmes‖, in
Lakatos, Imre: The Methodology of Scientific Research Programmes (Philosophical Papers, Volume 1. Cambridge,
New York, Melbourne: Cambridge University Press, 1999
89
Originally published as: Anderson, Stanford: ―Architectural Design as a System of Research Programs‖, and
―Architectural Research Programs in the Work of Le Corbusier‖, in Design Studies, 1984
101
possibility of opening the program itself into a broader entity, beyond the individualities. Around
a hard-core made up of an indisputable truth such as the material or spatial realm of
architecture, objects and events exist in constant friction, as auxiliary hypotheses orbiting
around fixed nuclei. Each architectural entity consists of, and operates within, four fundamental
positive heuristics: function, aesthetics, technique and discourse. The stability and strength of
each of these entities depends on the capacity of its explorative capacity to both operate
soundly, at a methodological level, as well as to confront challenging entities, always attempting
to supersede each other as rival hypotheses by proving more heuristically efficient, in one or
more fields of experimentation.
Seen this way, architecture is a continuous, complex and informal stream of objects and events,
in which it is impossible to identify polarities, given the fact that the whole stream is in constant
change, and also given that the amount of entities that populate it, as well as their position, are
so many and intricate.
The incorporation of such a model into the pedagogic discussion requires a levelling of all
constitutive courses of the curriculum, rectifying the problematic nature of compartmentalization,
mentioned in the opening remarks of this text. The movement from project-centered design
studios and textually focused theory seminars, into the heftier figure of architecture as an
intervention that comprises the methodological involvement of the aforementioned positive
heuristics in the construction of a strong and stable architectural entity, can only be considered
a radical problem-shift within architectural education; requesting a substantial revision of the
architectural episteme.
Operating on the methodology of research programs requires a clear understanding of the

nature and state of the art of specific discussions, in the fields of use and function, form and
image, discourse and representation, and materialization and technique. The definition of a
position, in relation to other architectural entities, as well as the articulation of the different
investigations required to construct each of the constituent heuristic components of this entity,
inscribes each event within a network of relations that blend into a substantially enhanced
version of architecture.
Transcending categories, and superseding the limitations posed by the modern oppositional
scheme, architecture as a series of research programs offers the possibility of cognitive growth,
while strictly observing the necessary ontological rigor required to preserve the notion of a
discipline that can persist in time.
Bibliography
Anderson, Stanford (ed.): Planning for Diversity and Choice: Possible Futures and Their
Relation to the Man – Controlled Environment. Cambridge (Mass.): MIT Press, 1968
Anderson, Stanford: ―Environment as Artifact: Methodological Implications‖, Casabella No. 359

– 360, Anno XXXV (1971)
Hayes, K. Michael: Architectural Theory since 1968. Cambridge (Mass.), London: MIT Press.
2000
Lakatos, Imre: The Methodology of Scientific Research Programmes (Philosophical Papers, Volume 1.
Cambridge, New York, Melbourne: Cambridge University Press, 1999
Ockman, Joan: Architecture Culture, 1943 – 1968: A Documentary Anthology. New York: Rizzoli /
102
Columbia Books on Architecture, 2007
Pollak, Martha (ed.): The Education of the Architect. Historiography, Urbanism and the Growth
of Architectural Knowledge: Essays Presented to Stanford Anderson. Cambridge (Mass.) and
London: MIT Press, 1997
Vesely, Dalibor: Architecture in the Age of Divided Representation. Cambridge, London: MIT
Press, 2004
Whiffen, Marcus (ed.), The History, Theory and Criticism of Architecture: Papers from the 1964
AIA-ACSA Teacher Seminar. Cambridge (Mass.), The MIT Press, 1965
Williams Goldhagen, Sarah and Legault, Rejean (eds.): Anxious Modernisms. Montreal,
Cambridge: CCA / MIT Press, 2000
Williams Goldhagen, Sarah: ―Something To Talk About: Modernism, Discourse, Style‖. Journal
of the Society of Architectural Historians, 64, No. 2 (2005), pp. 144 – 167
103
Innovative Architecture, Research and Education at the Same

Place
Tamás Molnár
University of Pécs, Pollack Mihály Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology, Hungary
[email protected]
Tamás Molnár studied architecture at the Pollack Mihály Faculty of Engineering of the University of Pécs and
received his diploma in 2007. He completed his Doctorate of Liberal Arts studies in 2010. He works as an assistant
professor at the Pollack Mihály Faculty on the Department of Architecture and Visual Studies.
Bálint Bachmann
University of Pécs, Pollack Mihály Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology, Hungary
[email protected]
Bálint Bachmann is currently the Dean of Pollack Mihály Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology. He
studied architecture on Bachelor level in Würzburg, on Master level in Pécs. He completed his Doctor of Liberal Arts
studies in 2006. In 1997 and 1999 he worked as an Architect at Pálffy & Associates in Tokyo, Japan.
Abstract
The Szentágothai Research Center in Pécs is a university development of the

University of Pécs. It is a large complex of different laboratories and university
facilities. The building consists of three almost similar cubes. The first cube and
the main entrance hall is the public part of the building that can be used by the
students of the university. The second and the third cube are housing the light
and heavy laboratories where experts and scientists of medical and natural
sciences can make different research programs.
From the engineering point of view it is important that three different type of
energy source is used in the three cubes: the heat of the soil, solar energy and
normal central heating produced from biomass. The building is already equipped
with modern building service systems. During the operation of the building the
different energy sources can be compared to each other to decide which one is
the best or the most efficient.
From the engineering education point of view it is a unique possibility to make

measurements on a 1:1 scale model. The research data coming from the
innovative operation of the building can be evaluated in a holistic, complex way
by students of electricity, building engineering, information technology and
architecture.
104
As a result the Szentágothai Research Center (Fig. 1) is a research building, a

university facility and at the same time a model for engineering research
regarding energy design methods.
Keywords: Research Center, innovative energy usage, architecture, Pécs
Fig. 1: The Szentágothai Research Center in P cs
Introduction
The Science Building is an academic center with state-of-the-art equipment. The invitation of
outstanding foreign scientists makes it possible that not only those few young scholars could
have research opportunities that win a scholarship to abroad, but also those who stay at home.
According to the research concept of the building a famous scientist can supervise several
young candidates in the Science Building [1].
The Szentágothai Research Center (earlier it was called: Science Building) was a European
Union project where the University of Pécs won almost seven billion Hungarian forints, of which
about three billion could be spent on the house. Several faculties of the University of Pécs have
been involved in this project. The building was designed by the Marcel Breuer Doctoral School
of the Pollack Mihály Faculty of Engineering. An economist carried out the considerable work of
preparing the application for the EU founding. Program for lab technology was set up by the
researchers of several faculties in Pécs. The laboratory technology has been served by the
architects with the greatest possible respect. In return the engineers gave a completely free
hand in the field of forms and aesthetics, and sometime they even appreciated the different
ideas of the architects. Considering the above mentioned list it becomes visible that the high
technological level of the 21st century can only be achieved through the integration of various
professions, and various faculties, in a case of a university.
Architectural Concept Of The Building
The location for the Science Building is beautiful and more than suitable: opposite the Heart
Institute of the University of Pécs, on the southern slope of the Makár Hill. Hence the Architects
got the playful idea: ‗Rolling Stones‘, the vision of stones rolling down from the hills.
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The function of the Science Building required three main bodies: an office building, a building for
informatics and another one including a heavy lab block. The three building masses are having
the shape of stones. They are connected in a different way. The first and the second cubes are
connected by the ground floor where lecture rooms and the main hall shaping a pebble can be
found (Fig. 2).
Fig. 2: Pebble of the main auditorium
In the main auditorium three hundred people can listen to a presentation or to a lecture. The
second and the third buildings are connected with a bridge, with a ―Bridge of Sighs‖ without
which no university may exist. The building group created this way forms a strict body with some
playfulness. The architects intended to coat the pebble-shaped lecture hall with a cladding
material in the famous green-turquoise color of Zsolnay-ceramics to emphasize the Pécs
character of the research center. Finally it had to be reverted to using Italian glass to recall this
colorful world. [2]
The building has a simple, monolith ferroconcrete structure with short spans. The façade of the
building has a two-shell external wall structure that matches its character. The technical
equipment of the house runs between the two shells. It is only the southern façade of the first
block that has been equipped with a double glazed solar-protection structure making it possible
to utilize solar energy.
One of the main structural questions of the building was the structure of the main auditorium. In
the case of the pebble the original design was a ferroconcrete structure. Then, having
considered the structure from the perspective of construction and finances it was recognized
that the two-shell, double formwork would not be acceptable to the contractor. A steel structure
was the next idea which one would not pass the fire regulations. Finally the architects came up
with the idea of underpinning the entrance hall with several leaning pillars, creating the
atmosphere of an artificial forest. This way an oval hole could be cut into the slabs. A glass and
steel structure, a dome could be placed above it. With this solution the space of the lecture hall
vertically could be made of anything. [3]
Almost at the end of the construction works came the idea that in the foyer there is a 30 m long
5 m high empty wall surface where a fine art object could have good place. The problem was
that there was no money to ask an artist to make an artistic installation. That was the time when
one of the artist teachers from the university, Ms. Erzs bet Győri had the idea to somehow use
the waste of the façade. During the production of the façade elements, big trapezoid or triangle
form elements fall down that would have been waste. Ms. Győri reused 50 pieces of the biggest
elements by bending them differently and screwing them onto the wall surface. This dynamic
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installation received the name random. The texture perfectly suits the function of the research
center as it recalls one type of human DNA illustration that is uses in medical research. (Fig. 3)
Fig. 3: Random in the Szentágothai Research Center
Energy-Consciousness
One colleague from the designer team came with the idea, that everybody can hear a lot about
renewable energy sources but no one has ever assessed whether solar energy, geothermic
energy or other ecological architecture solutions are the best. The Science Building consists of
three roughly uniform parts, and the building is already equipped with modern building service
systems. With this solution the various methods can be tested, the results can be recorded and
the performances can be compared.
According to the functions, the modern architectural solutions and the spirit of the building the
engineers intended to equip the facility with a building engineering system that takes into
consideration the most important aspect of today‘s world. The main objective was to apply
renewable sources of energy that comply with the concept of sustainable development and also
to establish internal systems that balance the internal climate of the building, reuse surplus
energy and utilize waste heat.
There are several important features of the building engineering system, e.g. utilization of the
heat content of the soil as a renewable source of energy, utilization of the storage capacity of
the activated soil as an energy battery, recycling the waste heat generated by the operation of
the building, heat recovery and the utilization of solar energy. The double facade is used as a
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space for building engineering. Different structures of the building are equipped with excellent
insulation.
Three different type of energy source is used in the three cubes. Block ‗A‘ is operated by solar
energy that is utilized through the southern facade in a passive way (Fig. 4). Block ‗B‘ uses the
heat of the soil through more than eighty 100 m deep wells that are connected to a heat pump.
In the first two blocks soil heat exchangers are running for heating and generating heat, heat
pumps using water are heating and cooling the interior spaces and the air conditioning units are
equipped with highly efficient air-to-air heat recovery systems.
Fig. 4: Double glassed façade of Block ‗A‘
Block ‗C‘ runs on normal central heating connected to the network of the town, produced from
biomass. Air conditioning to heat and cool the interior in this block is a 4 pipe system.
Condensing liquid management system is also running to produce cooling-water. The unit can
be connected to heat pumps. Air conditioning units are here also equipped with highly efficient
air-to-air heat recovery system. It is easy to see that the solutions applied in the case of building
"C" are also modern and satisfy the technological level of today‘s world, however instead of
using renewable energy they revert to the district heating system of the town.
During the operation of the building the different energy sources can be compared to each other
to decide which one is the best or the most efficient. In the case of block ‗A‘, ‗B‘ and the
conference hall heating is ensured with the help of soil heat and without the use of fossil fuels.
The construction costs, the characteristics of their operation and operating costs can be
compared and analyzed according to the two sources of energy so the researchers can get a
real picture about the behavior and efficiency of the modern heating systems. Using the results
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of this research can help the operators when considering how to improve the efficiency of
operation. Treating the interior climate of the buildings is an important element in the field of
energy management. The various technologies, the electric devices, the computers, the
refrigerators in the labs all release heat generated by electrical energy. When the building is in
full operation, this significant waste heat basically makes external heat input unnecessary so the
building practically heats itself. At the same time, however, a need for heating and cooling also
appears in the building during transitional periods. The heat pumps placed in the rooms, using
their common water circulating loops are able to transfer heat. By heating the room to be heated
and cooling the room to be cooled, they heat and cool the water loop. As long as the hot and
cold heat output mediated by the water loop balance one another (the temperature of the
circulating water remains within ±10°C) there is no need for external heat input. This means that
the system is able to meet the various demands without using soil heat. The soil is resting and
waste heat is recycled. The Science Building does not emit any harmful substances to its
immediate environment: it has ―zero‖ emission. There is no gas used for heating and air
conditioning the building, there are no boiler rooms and no chimneys to discharge exhaust
gases. [4]
From the engineering education point of view it is a unique possibility to make measurements
on a 1:1 scale model. The research data coming from the innovative operation of the building
can be evaluated in a holistic, complex way by students of electricity, building engineering,
information technology and architecture.
Research Topics in the Field of Architecture
There are several research topics in the field of architecture and sustainability that started just at
the opening of the building. Firstly smart city technologies will be researched in the building. The
Smart City Research Group works on different subtopics. As part of the European Union‘s (EU)
Smart City initiative the research in Pécs focuses on the technological solutions that middle-
sized cities of the convergence regions of the EU can apply in order to lower CO 2 emission and
prevent climate change. Also the information technological aspects are researched where e.g.
the management of public utilities or an intelligent building control solution is investigated. In the
field of waste management a life cycle analysis will be carried out to investigate different
alternatives. Energy-effective adaptation will be researched too where the main question is how
to introduce global models to a city, how to integrate green infrastructure into urban
development. A prototype experimental climate structure testing technology is also part of the
newly started research programs. In this field an innovative green shading technology, an aqua
skin technology, different adaptive building skin structures and low tech systems are also
investigated. [5]
Conclusion
The Science Building is called now Szentágothai János Research Center. It is named after the
academician and brain researcher János Szentágohai. The Science Building received the
Holcim Award ―For Sustainable Architecture‖ at the Media Architecture competition in 2012. The
building is able to play its role determined by the academic, local, regional and international
expectations. The entrance hall and the adjoining lecture rooms, which inform the students and
those interested about the results of the researches have another role, too: they serve as a
forum for scholars arriving from abroad because owing to the labs and the computer system it
can provide them with everything they need for their scientific research. The research center
officially opened its gates last year. The architects have great hopes concerning the research
carried out through assessing the ecological aspects of the building.
109
References
Bachman Z. University of Pécs, Science Building in: Bachmann B. (ed.) Bachman Zoltán, pp
277-291, Vince Kiadó, Budapest, 2010.
Bachmann B. Bachman Z. Science Building in P cs, Pollack Periodica, vol. 5. No. 3. pp 3-8.
2010.
Bachman Z, Bachmann B. Hutter Á, Rohoska Cs, Borsos Á, Molnár T, Szösz K. Rolling Stones
of the Mecsek – Science Building, Pécs (in Hungarian) http://epiteszforum.hu/rolling-stones-of-
the-mecsek-science-building-pecs. last visited 31.01.2013
Bachmann B. The ―Rolling Stones‖ is ready (in Hungarian) http://epiteszforum.hu/a-rolling-

stones-keszen, last visited 31.01.2013
PTE Szentágothai János Research Center, Smart City Technologies Research Group,
http://szkk.pte.hu/index.php?r=project/group&id=18, last visited 08.02.2013
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Architectural Education and Music: Counterpoint as the Meeting

Point between the Two Arts
Konstantina Demiri
School of Architecture, National Technical University of Athens
[email protected]
Konstantina Demiri, born in 1952, Thessaloniki, Greece/Associate Professor, School of Architecture, National
Technical University of Athens/ Ph.D from the University of Edinburgh/ Thesis entitled: A Typological Investigation of
Mill Buildings in Greece/ Co-author of: Architectural and musical interrelations. Counterpoint as a tool of synthesis in
music and architecture/ Office in Athens since 2000.
Sofia Tsiraki
[email protected]
Sofia Tsiraki, born in 1970, Athens, Greece/ Lecturer, School of Architecture, National Technical University of Athens/
Master diploma, National Technical University of Athens/ Co-author of: Architecture - Ideas that meet, ideas that stray
and Architectural and musical interrelations. Counterpoint as a tool of synthesis in music and architecture/ Office in
Athens since 1998.
Jannis Athanasopoulos
[email protected]
Jannis Athanasopoulos, born in 1970, Athens, Greece/ Dipl. Architect Engineer, National Technical University of
Athens/ Doctoral candidate, School of Architecture, Demokritos University of Thrace/ Violist/ Co-author: Architectural
and musical interrelations. Counterpoint as a tool of synthesis in music and architecture/ Office in Athens since 1994.
Abstract
The enquiry on finding relationships between the arts dates back to history.
However, at the academic level, only fine arts were part of the architectural
education with the exception of the Bauhaus School where a holistic approach
introduced to design enlarging the field by including music and other forms of art.
Nevertheless, in architectural practice, associations between architecture and
music can be located throughout architectural history in the work of many famous
architects. The comparison between architecture and music reveals that the
architectural synthesis has common elements with musical composition.
The paper explores the similarities of the two arts on the basis of their structure
and compositional principles and not as an image-transcript process.
Counterpoint, as a technique, is one of the linking elements between them. It has
been developed in music and aims to combine voices for a polyphonic form to be
composed. In general, it is the art of manipulating a system of interrelations
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through which the whole is composed by its parts. Our approach in educating
students is structural, forming a methodological base of the synthesis in the
design studio. The structure of the synthesis is considered as an invisible law
that relates the elements of a system with one another. The architectural
synthesis -likewise in music- is a process from the conceptual idea and
compositional structure to the final form.
The paper seeks to present the method and the outcomes of an elective course
in the School of Architecture (NTUA) where contrapuntal techniques, employed
in musical composition, are tried out in small abstract compositional exercises
promoting the students‘ compositional capacities.
Keywords: arts in architectural education, musical composition, counterpoint,

structural approach, abstract exercises
―Let [the architect] be educated, skillful with the

pencil, instructed in geometry, know much history,
have followed the philosophers with attention,
understand music, have some knowledge of
medicine, know the opinions of the jurists, and be
acquainted with astronomy and the theory of
heavens.‖ (Vitruvius, 1960, 5-6)
Within the rapid changes that have occurred at the cultural, political, economic and
technological level the profession of architecture changes. Consequently, architectural
education is facing the challenge to reexamine the pedagogical methods applied and its
relationship with other disciplines and arts. As S. Lehmann points out ―Today more than ever,
making architecture is an interdisciplinary adventure without clear boundaries‖ (Lehmann, 2006,
95). This paper presents an approach, developed in the School of Architecture in Athens
(N.T.U.A), to combine architecture and music on the basis of their structural similarities.
Architectural Education And The Arts
In the Renaissance period architects and artists ought to be familiar with musical theory since,
in this way, they could raise their art to the status of a mathematical ―science‖ (Wittkower, 1949,
117). Later on with the establishment of architectural Schools and the provision of systematic
knowledge to students through an academic stream, architects gradually free themselves from
the bondage of mathematical ratios (Ibid., 153) and consequently from musical lore. Only fine
arts remain as vital part of the architectural design education with the aim to improve the
students‘ capacity to intuit and perceive spaces and forms, represent the visualization of their
ideas in the process from concept to form and present their final proposal. In 19 th century
France the approach between the École Polytechnique and École des Beaux-Arts can be
viewed as a ―contradiction between the scientific approach deriving from engineering […] and
the artistic approach based on an aesthetic understanding expressed as architectural style‖
(Robinson, 2001, 64). However, in both cases graphic arts were part of their curriculum, since
they were considered as the means of formal manipulation. Even earlier in the Académie
Royale d'Architecture students were offered basic knowledge on graphic arts (Gómez, 1983,
278). The study of descriptive geometry as was applied in different arts considered as a mean
to handle form and composition (Ibid., 282). During the second half of the 19th century, Schools
were modeled in Europe and United States on the French École des Beaux-Arts tradition.
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However, at the beginning of the 20th century a transition occurred from the Beaux-Arts as
system in architectural education to the Bauhaus approach.
Bauhaus promoted innovations and cultivated a creative dialogue between arts (painting,
sculpture, music, installations, dance, theater, etc) on the one hand and architecture on the
other. Its holistic approach was reflected in the introduction of the Bauhaus Manifesto where
Gropius declared that the ultimate aim of all visual arts is the complete work of art
(Gesamtkunstwerk). The aim of the School was the promotion and cultivation of the unity of arts
and artists. In the same period, Peter Behrens, a member of the Deutsche Werkbund,
expressed the view that ―The first priority is to consolidate all branches of artistic activity that
belong to the visual arts into a single pedagogical entity and to keep the various fields within an
internal coherence from the shared starting level onward‖ (Wick, 2000, 59). The educational and
teaching structure enabled students to combine ‗practical instruction‘ (Werklehre) with ‗artistic
instruction‘ (Formlehre). The aim was the acquisition of specific skills based on the common
ground between the various compositional processes of the arts.
Music was not included in the Bauhaus curriculum, however ―music did have a specific function
in learning to understand the laws of form. Numerous transpositions of musical scores give
evidence of this search for the laws of form and colour‖ (Metzger, 1999, 148). The impact of
contemporary music was important at the Bauhaus. Central feature in the course was the
development of elementary forms in architecture, sculpture, painting and their relations to
musical compositions. Within this framework Heinrich Neugeboren, a student of the School,
designed a monument for Bach reproducing graphically and strereometrically a part of his
fugue. Inspired by the ideas shared between the group Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider),
centered around Kandinsky, he attempted to achieve a ―scientifically exact transformation into
another system‖ (Wingler, 1978, 441).
Musical analogies can be traced in the work of many teachers of Bauhaus to mention Wassily
Kandinsky, Johannes Itten, Paul Klee and Oscar Schlemmer. They were influenced by musical
composers transcribing musical compositions into their work or investigating common structural
elements between the two arts. Despite the fact that music has influenced the metier of many
architects of the twentieth century it was not part of the architectural education with the
exception of the Bauhaus period and its holistic approach. At the end of the 20th century
architectural education addressed to other disciplines and ―the exploration of external
methodologies became another aperture through which to question architecture. Methods
borrowed from disciplines such as linguistics were employed, […] as autochthonous tools for
conceptualising, reinterpreting and redesigning architecture.‖ (Colomina, 2012, 81). Nowadays
within this framework, the relationship between arts and architecture is more inspiring and cross
fertilization is promoted. The development of skills of architectural students has to be based on
other disciplines and as Deniz Incedayi pointed out ―Basic design cannot be conceived in
isolation from the plastic arts, literature, music, social sciences or philosophy‖ (Incedayi, 120).
Though music was not part of architectural curricula, in practice architecture had historically
more common elements with music than with the other arts not only because of their
mathematical base but mainly because they share similar structural formation, compositional
tools, terminology and are perceived and experienced in space and time. During history many
architects approached architecture through music. It suffices to mention in this instance Alvar
Aalto, Le Corbusier, Frank Lloyd Wright, Bruce Goff and recently Iannis Xenakis, Daniel
Liebeskind and Steven Holl. Each architect in his own way expresses the arts‘ metaphoric
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relations, or focuses on their similarities in a perceptual level, or invokes the emotions created
by them or focuses deeply on their structural similarities. In every case, it is a common belief
that elements such as form, structure, rhythm, harmony, colour, analogies, mathematics,
articulation, constitute the basis of both arts.
Counterpoint As A Common Tool In Musical And Architectural Composition.
The relationship between music and architecture could be defined through two essential
notions: the autonomy of the medium and the sense of time. Max Dessoir describes music and
architecture as the arts of ―the indistinct associations and of the non-real forms‖ (Dessoir, 1906,
310) giving emphasis on the ‗originality‘ and on the total disengagement of their symbols from
the forms of nature. Supporting Max Dessoir‘s viewpoint, the Greek philosopher Evangellos
Papanoutsos considers music and architecture as non-mimetic arts. He suggests that, ―unlike
the other arts music and architecture create beings which have figural perfection, not only
because they don‘t work under the binding restrictions of the ‗object‘, but also because they can
‗disembody‘ like no other their expressional medium‖ (Papanoutsos, 1976, 360). They express
―abstract moods‖ or ‗indefinite tensions‘, such as an entirety which emanates from the figuration
of the psychic world‘s typical vibrations (Ibid.).
With regard to the notion of time, one may argue that rhythm is the common ground between
the two arts. However, time refers mainly to the conception and the apprehension of the musical
and architectural work. Like music, architecture is being conceived as a result of successive
relations from the creator‘s point of view, and as successive impressions as far as the spectator
is concerned. It considers the ‗opening up‘ of the architectural form within time, as well as the
progressive conception and comprehension of human consciousness, a process seen in the
audition of a musical composition. Respectively, music creates gradually its own ‗space‘ through
the unfolding of time, engaging either the psychological impact of the musical intervals or the
richness of polyphony.
This is the reason why counterpoint, as a method of regulating structural relations within time,
could be considered as a common tool in musical and architectural composition. During the
synthetic process counterpoint both intervenes and organizes - in the domains of concept and
construction - fundamental notions such as the Idea and Structure. Through contrapuntal
relations it is possible to regulate the whole and the part, as well as their constant connection in
relation to the horizontal act of time.
Counterpoint is the method, which regulates the movement of the independent melodic lines of
a musical composition. Hence, it is the art of combining two or more distinctive voices through
the flow of time. The term ‗counterpoint‘ originates from the end of the medieval period from the
Latin punctus contra punctum, which means ‗point against point‘. At that time the music notes
on the stave, regarded as ‗points‘ or ‗dots‘, were represented through the use of a square bullet
(fig. 1).
In order to develop and arrange this kind of relationship between the voices in a musical sense,
several conditions must be served, such as: firstly, distinctness and consistency of each voice;
secondly, existence of common morphological and stylistic elements between independent
voices, and lastly, satisfactory harmonic background. Already since the end of the Middle Ages
the polyphonic writing becomes more composite, enriching the method of counterpoint with a
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set of techniques. These techniques increase the composer‘s capability and flexibility during the
handling and creation of the musical material. The most contrapuntal techniques consist of the
alteration of an initial prototype motif, which is being repeated, either unedited or slightly
transformed, according to the following three: the movement of the voices, the time value of the
notes, and the antithetical movement of the music intervals. It is worth mentioning, that despite
of all differences among the musical aesthetic perceptions of the historic periods, and especially
after Bach‘s refinement until the 20th century, the contrapuntal techniques constitute the basis
of the polyphonic writing. It is worth mentioning, that the most common techniques are the
following (Stein, 1979, 121-126): repetition (precise recurrence of a motif in the same voice or
voices)/ imitation (precise recurrence of a motif in a different voice after its occurrence of the
first one)/ sequence (immediate and successively repeated restatement of a motif at different
pitches of the scale)/ transposition (recurrence of a motif or a complete musical phrase in a new
key)/ contrary motion (imitation of a motif or musical phrase, using the inversion of the musical
intervals which constitute them)/ stretto (overlapping imitation of a motif from the second voice,
which begins before the first voice has completed its statement)/ canon (imitation of a melody by
one or more voices after a given time at a particular interval)/ retroversion or invertible
counterpoint (mutual inversion of parts, so that the upper part becomes the lower and vice
versa)/ organ point or pedal point (continual sound of a note presented from one voice, while
the others move freely)/ augmentation – diminution (extended (or accordingly reduced) in
duration imitation of a previous motif)/ retrograde motion (reproduction of a motif or musical
phrase in symmetrical - reverse order)/ variation (enrichment - transformation of the initial motif
or musical phrase, by adding notes or rests of bigger or smaller time value, or by using a
combination of the previous mentioned contrapuntal techniques).
On the basis of the above remarks, counterpoint in architecture could be defined as the art of
the combination of two or more conceivable elements, whether visible or not. Thus, counterpoint
could also be conceived through elements that are not completely discernible. These elements,
in the spectator‘s mind and through his ability to memorize them, can generate contrapuntal
relations. Consequently, an ‗element‘ can not only be considered as a distributive structural
element (either linear or planar), but also as the entire structural system itself. Powerful enough
to govern a synthesis, the structural system does not always imply, that it makes itself entirely
visible. Furthermore, the human movement itself constitutes one more extra element of
contrapuntal function. Although conceivable, it is considered to be one of the most essential
factors in the design process (fig. 2c).
Thus, counterpoint in architecture refers to the internal relations among the elements that
constitute a group or system of elements (fig. 2a) and to the relations of these individual
systems as well. For instance, in order to make counterpoint readable in a system of non-load
bearing planar elements (fig. 2b), one should try to find ‗proper‘ relations not only among them,
but also to examine the appropriate connections to other element groups; such as the column-
system and other systems of non-load bearing elements, whether solid, transparent or
perforated.
According to the issues analyzed above, one may detect an analogy of the function of the
contrapuntal techniques between music and architecture. For instance, the techniques of
imitation or stretto, which could be considered in music as a variation of the repetition technique,
follow a similar function in architecture. As seen at the ‗Stretto House‘, designed by Steven Holl
(fig. 3), the spatial motif or unit is repeated through a sliding in relation to each other. The whole
concept of the synthesis seems to be determined by this particular displacement of the spatial
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motifs. After all, the architect, having knowledge of the technique and function of stretto, named
the project ‗The Stretto House‘.
Another technique that determines the entire synthesis is the retroversion technique, expressing
at the same time the conceptual idea of it. In the proposal for the New Acropolis Museum,
designed by Chi Wing Lo and Panagiota Davladi (fig. 4), the architects rely mainly on the
contrapuntal relationship between two walls. According to how much light they wish to penetrate
the building, they choose either a solid or a semi-transparent wall for different parts of the main
elevation (a). At the same time the architects, with the use of the pedal point, the contrary
motion and the diminution, create microstructurally several contrapuntal relations among the
various motifs (b).
Musical counterpoint in architectural education
In the search of common language between the two arts, the exploration of structural relations
in architectural composition, through the lens of counterpoint, was the main impetus for the
introduction of our elective course in the Curriculum of the School of Architecture (N.T.U.A). The
course entitled ―Architectural and musical interrelations: counterpoint as a tool of synthesis in
music and in architecture‖ introduces our students to experimental ways of conceptualizing -
through the eyes of another art- with the aim to help them speculate creatively. They focus on
innovative explorations by approaching the process of synthesis from another point of view. In
this way the course provides complementary and auxiliary knowledge to the design studio
where students are engaged in projects within a certain context and for particular users.
In this course students are introduced in the issues of the relationship of both arts through a
series of lectures. Additionally, we present them the counterpoint techniques in music with
examples from architecture and other arts. We focus also on different and common principles
that can be found in their compositional process. Our approach is mostly structural, and not
iconographic or perceptual. Music is perceived neither as a means of inspiration nor as an
image-transcript but as a method of synthesis. We focus on the underlying principles of
composing the elements to form a whole. We believe that the abstract ideogram of structure
allows the conceptual bridging of architecture with music. The structure is considered in its
broad sense as the ―invisible law that places the elements of a system in relation to one
another‖ (Valena, 2011, p.7).
The students after the analysis of the contrapuntal techniques apply them in a small design
exercise that takes place in the School. This exercise helps them to explore relations of the
compositional elements of space. They have to design an open spatial synthesis inscribed in a
virtual oblong stereo vertically or horizontally extended. Contrapuntal techniques are applied by
relating elements concerning a) the linear and surface supporting components, b) the
transparent and opaque surfaces, c) the materials in terms of texture or colour and d) the
alternation between shadow and light.
The abstract character of the exercise implies that no functional character is attributed to this
composition and there is no relationship with any context. This exercise train students to explore
basic mechanisms related to the structure and investigate fundamental design concepts,
principles and elements applying contrapuntal relationships. The whole synthesis should have a
clear compositional idea underlining its totality in an overall manner. An issue that arises is
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about the role of an abstract exercise in training students in the architectural composition. We
consider that abstraction in education is an important way of thinking during the creative
process. Abstraction presupposes the ability to perceive the whole and isolate the essential in
the context of a recognized structure. Thus, students are trained in using ideogrammatic-
structural approach as a conceptual guide in the process of creating architectural spaces and
exploring basic compositional mechanisms. In their investigation they use sketches and
particularly models where the relationship element-whole is apparent joined with their
conceptual idea.
The students‘ spatial constructions are classified along two basic categories according to the
positioning of human existence within them. The first one includes proposals that investigate
spatial concepts and contrapuntal relations that do not necessarily imply the existence of a
human being inside the construction. These abstract models explore spatial qualities and
relationships (e.g. broad - narrow, large - small, soft - hard, etc.) and often represent a
sculptural space or an installation (fig.5- 8). The second category, describes the existence,
movement and / or stasis of human existence inside them (fig.9-12). These ‗vessels of life‘ are
also abstract applications of primary spatial formations by relating elements through
contrapuntal techniques. (e.g. the articulation of load and non load bearing elements, the
contrapuntal relation between spatial components, such as: transparent - opaque, light - dark,
rest - motion, vertical – inclined etc.).
Epilogue
Overall, the course intends to offer our students basic knowledge on musical theory with the aim
to cultivate them and encourage them to view architecture through the lens of another art. Our
approach offers them a broad perspective of architectural synthesis and a mean for the
interaction of both arts. This helps them to organize their thoughts, explore design ideas and
develop their design potentials. As one of our student commented ―the course succeeds to
create a conceptual space between Music and Architecture, allowing them to interact and affect
their individual meanings, while expanding their capacity to contain their diversity and
complexity; but nevertheless, leading to a deeper understanding of the process of synthesis
itself‖ (A. Stathopoulou).
The search for deeper principles and ideas in order to develop and systematize theoretical
notions related to architectural synthesis is crucial in education. The structural approach through
counterpoint enlarges the students‘ ways of expressing concepts and manipulating spatial
relations. In this way, our attempt offers a theoretical background to consider and revaluate the
process of design. This theoretical reasoning is important, since it offers the way to understand,
interpret and handle space so as to be readable and habitable. Similarly, Walter Gropius
stressed that ―The musician who wants to make audible a music idea needs for its rendering not
only a musical instrument but also knowledge of theory. Without this knowledge his idea will
never emerge from chaos. A corresponding knowledge of theory […] must again be readable as
a basic for practice in the visual arts‖ (Gropius, 1923, 26).
References
Colomina, B. et al (2012), Radical pedagogies, Architectural Review, Oct, Vol. 232 Issue 1388,
78-89.
117
Dessoir, M. (1906), Ästhetik und Allgemeine Kunstwissenschaft in den Grundzügen dargestellt,

Ferdinand Enke Verlag, Stuttgart.
Gropius, W. (1923), The theory and organization of the Bauhaus, in Bayer, H., Gropius, W.,
Gropius, I. (eds.) (1938) Bauhaus 1919-1928, MOMA, New York.
Incedayi, D. (2005), Architect as a Facilitator. The Changing Education (of Architecture), in

Writings in Architectural Education, EAAE, Transaction on architectural education No 26.
Lehmann, S. (2006), Rethinking the design studio Art+ Architecture – a Case study of
Collaboration in a interdisciplinary context in Al-Qawasmi, J. et al, Changing Trends in
Architectural Design Education, CSAAR editions
Metzger, C. (1999), Non-stop music – a brief history of the Bauhaus, in J. Fiedler & P.
Feierabend (eds) , Bauhaus, Könemann, Cologne, pp.140-151
Papanoutsos, E., (1976), Aesthetics, (in Greek), Ikaros, Athens.
Pérez-Gómez, A. (1985), Architecture and the Crisis of Modern Science, The MIT Press,
Cambridge MA.
Robinson, J. W. (2001), The form and structure of architectural knowledge: From practice to
discipline, in Piotrowski, A. and Williams Robinson, J. (eds.), The Discipline of Architecture,
University Minnesota Press.
Stein, L., (1979,) Structure & style: the study and analysis of musical forms, Fl, Warner Bros.
Publications, Miami.
Valena, T. (2011). Structural Approaches and Rule-Based Design in Architecture and Urban
Planning, in Valena, T. Avermaete, T., Vrachliotis, G. (eds) (2001). Structuralism Reloaded
Rule-Based Design in Architecture and Urbanism. Stuttgart/London: Edition
Axel Menges, pp. 6-19.
Vitruvius, P. (1960), The Ten Books of Architecture, Dover Publications, Νew Υork, © 1914.
Wick, R. (2000), Teaching at the Bauhaus, Hatje Cantz Publishers. Ostfildern.
Wingler, H. (1978), Bauhaus: Weimar, Dessau, Berlin, Chicago, The MIT Press, Cambridge,
MA.
Wittkower, R. (1973), Architectural Principles in the Age of Humanism, Academy Editions,

London.
118
Fig. 1. Musical manuscript of the 15th century.
Fig. 2. Contrapuntal relations among structural elements (a), contrapuntal relations between the
group of structural elements and the load bearing system (b), contrapuntal relations among the
group of structural elements, the load bearing system and the human movement (c).
Fig. 3. Steven Holl, Stretto House, Dallas, TX, USA (1989-1992). Arrangement of the spatial
motifs according to the ‗stretto‘ technique.
119
Fig. 4. Chi Wing Lo, Panagiota Davladi, Proposal for the New Acropolis Museum (1990). Usage
of the techniques of retroversion (a), of pedal point and diminution (b)
Fig.5. Students‘ model. Kokkoba E., Lambropoulou A., Plytas S.
Fig. 6 Students‘ model. Bogia Ch.,Goudoumi K., Loukos D.

Fig. 7. Student‘s model. Kardami M.-A.
120
Fig. 8. Students‘model. Boukia M., Mitsiou A.

Fig. 9. Students‘ model. Dionisopoulou M., Gerakianakis G.
Fig. 10. Student‘s model. Mavridou P.

Fig. 11. Students‘ model. Karaiskou,E., Saratsis, A.
121
Advanced Form and Aesthetics Courses in Architecture

R. Sandesh
Industrial Design Centre, Indian Institute of Technology, India
[email protected]
Prof R Sandesh has been working in Design Education in India for a decade now. He graduated from IDC, IIT
Bombay in 2002 and worked as a designer in Mumbai. He then started his career in design education at NID
(National Institute of Design) through its craft education programme at Bamboo and Cane Development Centre at
Agartala, Tripura, and later on joined as Faculty of Industrial Design at NID, Ahmedabad. He joined IDC, IIT Bombay
in 2007 and has ever since been serving the institute. His areas of work pertain to Basic Design, Form based Art and
Abstraction and Expression, and System Design; and has been practicing in Bamboo Craft and Craft Development
with emphasis on livelihood and entrepreneurship.
Abstract
In the era of digital architecture and state of the art building technologies, of the
many challenges facing architectural pedagogy today, one is that of insufficient
grounding towards the development of cognitive abilities in form based
aesthetics.
While traditional basic design courses in architecture curricula do cater towards
developing certain aesthetic sensibilities, much remains to be desired with
respect to advanced aesthetic concepts in expression and abstraction.
Based on the commonalities of the tasks and responsibilities, similarities in the

aesthetic abilities sought to be engrained in students of Architecture and
Industrial Design alike (Maldonado Tomas, 1989, 39)1, the paper makes a case
for a including in Architecture curriculum, assignments in form abstraction and
expression, initially developed for students of Industrial Design as part of Post
Graduate Design Curriculum. Moreover, the paper projects the possibility of
integrating the said tasks, with the basic design studio tasks in architecture
curriculum. The paper delves into the recent evolution of form based courses in
the context of industrial design, and the effect of such courses in the
development of aesthetic abilities in the students.
Given the fact that themes such as expression and abstraction, by virtue of their
very nature being philosophical, need an established knowledge base of art,
architecture and design history as perquisites for their proper comprehension and
assimilation, the paper makes a general review of the architecture curriculum to
propose an appropriate time within it for their considering form based courses.
The insights from the experience of developing advanced form courses for
industrial design students is thus proposed to be offered as purposeful and
significant inputs in architecture curriculum.
A Background note: Emerging areas for architects
The advent of walk through rendering and augmented reality has opened up numerous avenues
for students of architecture and design, in visualizing concepts for all kinds of design
opportunities, be it design of products like a watch or a bottle, or automobiles or spaces like
buildings and even design of towns, and in urban planning. This kind of enabling technology and
122
digital infrastructure has immensely helped design and architecture education, as well as its
practice. Recent times have seen a lot of movement is in these enabling technologies with the
development of high end software and programmes which can deliver virtual models of designs,
at speeds faster than ever, thus prompting a faster cycle of design approvals. This has in turn
increased the capacity and pace of work of the architect in terms of the ability to handle more
projects and complete projects within ever reducing timelines. As underscored in a research
paper, such a situation also serves the purpose of cost cutting for architects working in
competitive environments to get good quality drafting work form off shore clients (Solomon
Nancy, Linn Charles, 2005, pp 82, 86).
These technologies and their benefits have played a major role, and rightfully so, in evolving the
curriculum in architecture across the globe and especially in regions which have seen a
proliferation of institutes offering architecture courses, at the undergraduate as well as post
graduate levels. A significant number of the cadre of architects coming out of such institutes
attain expertise and specialisation in use of technology and software based on digital modelling
platforms. This kind of specialisation offers a good entry level employment opportunity in an
industry where architecture firms and construction companies require a larger number of digital
modellers. Such employers are either companies which handle in house projects and offer
complete architecture services or those companies which have positioned themselves as off
shore service provides of digital modelling services as part of the business process outsourcing
(BPO) phenomenon.
The cadre also finds employment opportunity in allied areas which also require digital modelling
abilities such as Interior Design, Furniture design, Exhibition design, Product design etc. but get
tasks only as digital modellers and not as designers having design abilities based on aesthetics;
form based aesthetics, cultural aesthetics, material aesthetics, contextual aesthetics and an
understanding of relevant design considerations.
Many from this cadre of architects also find interest in industrial design and pursue further
education like a Master‘s Degree in Graphic Design and Industrial Design which includes
branched out specialisations like furniture design, automobile design, retail design, accessory
design as well as newly evolved design programmes such as product interaction design,
product interface design, animation design, etc. In this backdrop the paper suggests ways to
strengthen and enrich form based aesthetics in architecture education with new approaches
derived from design education.
My experience in design teaching
The issues and points that I have tried to expound in this paper have largely emerged from the
experience over the years, of teaching design courses, especially Studies in Form courses at
the under graduate and post graduate levels in Product design, Furniture design, Accessory
design in the National Institute of Design (NID), and in the Industrial Design Centre (IDC) in
Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay, both in India. The post graduate level courses
included students from architecture background. During the courses, the interaction with
students from architecture background indicated insufficient cognitive abilities while dealing with
form based aesthetics. This observation is in the context of the feature profile expected of an
architect, the practitioner who deals with creation of spaces and elements that occupy the
spaces, makes spaces liveable and living pleasurable. The set of qualities and sensibilities
expected to be espoused by the young architect depends on the attributes instilled in
architecture curricula. The ability to deal with the philosophy of form with respect to built
structures and environments, and advanced form concepts such as abstraction and expression
123
constitutes one of the cornerstones of architectural education and practice. A quintessential trait
expected of the new age architect who not only builds spaces to live in and around, but also
infuses an emotion into the space with an underlying philosophy.
This trait is also expected of a an industrial designer, who creates products and services to
make them usable and to create an emotion in the usage, apart from the other distinct qualities
that make a good industrial designer. Attempts have been made in recent times towards
instilling this quality in the industrial design curriculum at IDC, IIT Bombay. These efforts have
been pursued with essentially objective methodical approaches as the core rather than the
purely artistic in which outcomes of tasks get evaluated squarely based on the aesthetic thinking
and intuition of the educator.
Industrial Design in India and approached towards curriculum development
Currently, about twenty design schools offer courses in India3, at the graduation level, post
graduation level as well as the doctoral level. Design education in India was initiated by a very
succinct report called ‗The India Report‘ done by Charles and Ray Eames, proposed a design
road map for India, given it needs, peculiarities and strengths of culture, tradition and philosophy
(Eames Charles and Ray, 1958, 4,7) 4. The first institute to start was the National Institute of
Design in Ahmedabad and subsequently Industrial Design Centre (IDC) started in Mumbai by
Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IITB) within its campus. Both the design schools drew
heavily from the Bauhaus and the Ulm models of design education. IDC curriculum and its initial
endeavours in design education and practice was largely influenced by the Ulm due to the
distinctiveness of its school of thought. Its distinctness vis-à-vis the Bauhaus had lain in the fact
that unlike the art, craft, artist and aesthetics cantered Bauhaus, the Ulmers were more inclined
towards seeing design as an instrument to better the quality of human life essentially based on
a problem solving approach, with the inclusion of the industry and production (Trivedi Kirti,1989,
introduction) 5.
Form assignments at IDC, like all other courses started with this strong intellectual influence of
the Ulm, but were further developed and refined to factor in the needs of a young industry with
its manufacturing among the students the ability to deal with form, with the intention of creating
and manipulating emotions, expressions and abstraction. This was in tune with the needs of the
young industry in general, and a fledgling design sector, which required designers with an ability
to infuse inspirational and emotive values, assign meanings in products majorly based on their
formal attributes as well other relevant design abilities.
Importance of Basic Design inputs in Form, new approaches for form studies
Of special mention here are the profound and pioneering efforts of Prof A. G. Rao, in developing
form courses both at Basic Design/foundation level as well as in advanced form courses with
Expression and Abstraction as the central themes. Basic Design courses constitute an
introduction to the concepts in design such as 2D and 3D form transformation, form
manipulation, material appreciation, visual sensitivity, visual skills and a grammar of aesthetics.
The Basic Design tasks involve learning by doing and essentially based on a hands-on
approach. Whereas advanced form courses have inputs in the domains of form abstraction,
essence of elements in the natural world, expression in forms, philosophy of aesthetics etc.
As a an approach to infuse philosophy of aesthetics, and articulation of art into the domain of
form studies in industrial design it was proposed to introduce Expression as a generative tool to
arrive at new Product forms, referred to as physiognomy of a product (Rao A G, 1984, 2) 6.
124
While he explains the importance of Basic Design as a ‗preamble‘ to learning design in the
process of introducing the student in to the ‗world of design‘ with focus on articulation and
expression of the visual domain, his observation in the context of Basic Design courses is that
given their largely ‗syntactic‘ orientation and ‗abstract‘ frame work of tasks, they become
rigorous but not essentially meaningful and that, considering ‗Piagetian learning‘ these need to
become ‗meaningful‘. Further, he states that meaningful learning can be achieved with a
‗Pragmatics‘ based approach‘. As a consequence of this thought process and approach, and as
a new solution towards making basic design learning meaningful the Piagetian way, he
proposed a ‗semantics‘ based approach to Basic Design which also covered advanced form
concepts such as Abstraction and Expression (Rao A G, 1992, 79,80) 7. Having extensively
worked with design students over the years, he has evolved a theory of decoding the elements
of a particular Expression in a given form.
The course has been refined to a level of critical acclaim and has evolved into a structured
course with well established contents and an effective mode of course administration. The kind
of theorising, and generation of content in this subject has been first of its kind. As a matter of
fact, this narrative also seeks to attribute creditable attention to Prof A G Rao‘s work of
theorising the concept of expression in general and in product design in particular.
Prof. A. G. Rao‟s Theory of Expression8 categorizes product forms on the basis of the
expression they invoke. He has identified ten expressions and has listed them in five pairs of
opposite expressions, as follows:
1. Hard / Soft
2. Warm / Cold
3. Delicate / Rugged
4. Strong / Fragile
5. Precise / Gross
It follows from the theory that a product can be made to invoke any of the ten expressions. For
example a watch can be made to look soft or hard, warm or cold, delicate or rugged so on and
so forth as per ones design brief or the requirement of a client.
The premise of the theory is that any given product can be made to invoke any of the ten
expressions by manipulating the formal attributes of the product. The formal attributes of the
product have been decoded in to its elements, which are as follows:
Line quality: continuous / broken / straight / curved / line thickness etc.

Surface: flat / convex / concave / free flowing etc.
Colour: Warm / cold / hue / value / colour effect etc.
Texture: Fine / rough / grainy / fibrous / porous etc.
Finish: Matt / glossy / metallic etc.
Proportion: length vs width vs height
Scale: perceived scale of the product- micro, small, human scale, big, huge, massive etc.
Alignment: Vertical / horizontal /inclined etc.
Form: Continuous form / broken form / segmented form / free flowing form etc.
Each element is then given weightage: For example, let us assume that surface texture and
proportion play the most important role in making a product appear soft, while colour plays the
least important role. Thus, to make product look soft, surface texture and proportion will have
maximum weightage while colour will have the least weightage. Thus, by manipulating the
elements of the product, various expressions can be achieved in a very systematic manner.
125
As a co-faculty in this course for the past five years, I have observed a leap in the thinking
process of the students. This is partly due to the nature of the course and partly due to its
content. The nature of the course is such that it prods the students to take an aesthetic stand on
the expressions in product forms, and articulate it in a derived manner. This process
necessitates the need for intelligent investigation, objective thinking and poetic application in
design concepts. This thought process starts to build a profound ability that helps the students
impute meanings, emotions and expressions in products.
Students of architecture would also benefit immensely with development of such abilities as
they will be able to take a much better informed and evolved stand on the expressive profiles of
the spaces and environments they build. Looking at structures with an added perspective of
meaning and expression in them will equip the young architects with a critical faculty which will
enable them to further enrich the role of the architect. A role which sufficiently addresses the
stated needs of society in wanting to see meaning and expressions in built structures and
environments, especially in the contemporary context of society increasingly living behind
lifeless glass facades.
Form Abstraction
Further to my thoughts on the need to strengthen the understanding of form based aesthetics in
architecture curriculum, one more approach towards achieving this objective is inputs in the
realm of form abstraction. While there do exist theoretical inputs in the area of abstract art, art
movements etc. one finds a definite need to get the students to work on tasks based on for
abstraction.
In this context, the paper seeks to share the benefits of a recent course structure on abstraction
that was conducted by me for postgraduate students of design. Of the many tasks given during
the course, one task stands out for the simplicity of the task yet profound development of the
thinking process in the students.
The task was:

1. To select a basic geometric form to study its structure, geometric qualities and formal
characteristics. For example, a cube, a cylinder etc.
2. To select a natural entity to study it from abstraction point of view. For example, a snake,
a peacock etc.
3. The selection of the basic geometric form and the natural entity were to be made in such
a manner that they complemented each other in terms of their physical attributes.
4. The coming together of the geometric form and the natural entity was to happen through
an operation of form transition.
The combinations of tasks; a geometric form reflecting the abstraction of a natural entity through
a form transition posed a complex challenge of dealing with multiple aesthetic commitments,
and arrive at philosophical solutions. Philosophical solutions because the only freedom that the
students had was that they could provide a creative, philosophical narrative of their own in
depicting the abstract form transition of their chosen natural entity within the constraints of the
basic geometric form. The task offered the students an opportunity to stretch their geometric
and structural imagination to their best limits through the tool of abstract thinking and offer a
formal narrative.
This kind of thinking would certainly help in the education of young architects as well. To be able
to look at buildings, their geometry and structures from an abstract artist point of view and offer
it a creative and poetic narrative will enrich and add to the philosophical proficiency of aspiring
architects. Such proficiency is widely sought by the architect student community. Design and
126
Philosophy were perceived to be of highest importance in the curriculum, surveyed among 136
architecture instructions in India (USAID ECO III Project office, 2008, 11)‘9.
Architecture curriculum and design
Most architecture curricula currently include either introduction to Basic Design, or form
awareness as part of Allied Design Studio‘s in the initial two semesters (University of Mumbai
Syllabus for the Bachelor of Architecture 2012–2013, )10. These courses are a mix of visual
design principles, graphic design, product design principles, furniture design and other allied
inputs. The outcome of the courses is a general awareness and introduction to aspects of form
but not grounding in the understanding of form. Insufficient grounding in dealing with form based
aesthetics in the initial semesters of architectural education leads to an inability in the
implementation of aesthetic principles in architectural practice. The initial introductory courses in
semesters 1 and 2 need to be intensified further to instil better grounding in form understanding
and dove tail these with subsequent semesters to cover courses leading to understanding and
appreciation of advanced concepts of form such as expression and abstraction. Expression and
abstraction as concepts, have links to humanities, and relate to art history, art movements,
modernism and postmodernism. It would thus be desirable to factor in these points during the
planning of the curriculum to ensure a seamless progression of the learning process in
architecture.
Structured courses to develop abilities in form related aesthetics can help the students of
architecture in development of attributes which are holistic in nature and lead to better
appreciation of the role of the architect and of architectural practice.
References
Maldonado Tomas, The Emergent World: A Challenge to Architectural and Industrial Design
Thinking, Readings from Ulm: Selected articles from the Journal of HfG (Trivedi Kirti, Ed) IDC
Publications, 1989, pp 39.
Solomon Nancy and Linn Charles, Architectural Record, January 2005, pp 82, 86
http://www.designinindia.net/resources/institutions/educational/design-institutes-india.html,
30thApril-2013.
Eames Charles and Ray (1958), The India Report, National Ins. of Design NID Publ., pp 4, 7.
Trivedi Kirti, Introduction About ‗Readings from Ulm‘, Readings from Ulm: Selected articles from
the Journal of HfG (Kirti Trivedi, Ed) IDC Publications, 1989, pp Introduction.
Rao A G, Expression As A Basis Of New Form In Industrial Design, Abhikalpa (Kirti Trivedi, Ed)
IDC Publications, January 1984, pp 2.
Rao A G, Semantics in Basic Design, Arthaya: in search of meaning in man-made products and
images: articles from the seminar on Visual Semantics, (Poovaiah Ravi, Ed) IDC Publications,
1992, pp79, 80.
USAID ECO III Project Office (2008), Architecture Curriculum in India, Draft Document, January
17, 2008, 3.1, 3.11 pp 11.
University of Mumbai Syllabus for the Bachelor of Architecture (2012–2013), AC 6/6/2012 Item
N
127
Teaching Architectural Design in Delft; Different architectural

positions, common ground
Susanne Komossa
Susanne Komossa is an associate professor of Architectural Design, chair of Architectural Composition / Public
Building, Faculty of Architecture, Delft University of Technology. She leads the Architecture Research, PhD & MSc
Program ‗Architecture and the City; Public Realm: Composition & Tectonics‘ and acts as the Faculty‘s ambassador of
‗Research-by-Design‘.
Abstract
The Faculty of Architecture, Delft University of Technology is worldwide

renowned for its open and innovative approach to architecture in general and
architectural design especially. Considerable numbers of Erasmus and
International students join every year the master‘s program. Dutch students tend
to stay ‗at home‘ valuing the tremendous freedom they experience within the
‗school‘ [1]. Due to student revolts in the early 1970ties (and the faculty‘s
engineering background) teaching focuses foremost on the design process within
the so-called ‗project education‘, which the student and later on, the practicing
architect, subsequently and decisively follows. Within this process the consistent
argument is considered more important than the actual architectural form. Or with
other words, ‗style‘ of whatever master architect is not a central issue, but instead
the question how the student of architecture is able to develop a problem
statement, research it and finds ways in which he or she is able to link the actual
research to architectural design. The focus on process also enhances the idea
of continuous change and transformation. Starting with this assumption
architectural models and design are not fixed or static entities, but subjected to
an ongoing process of change. In the words of Jane Jacobs ‗(T)ruth is made up
of many bits and pieces of reality. The flux and change in itself is of the essence.
Change is so major a truth that we understand process to be the essence of
things.‘[2]
[1] Fortunately more and more Dutch students use the opportunity to study
abroad, Self-evaluation Rapport, Education Visitation, September 2012
[2] Jacobs, Jane; Systems of survival; A Dialogue on the Moral Foundations of

Commerce and Politics; Vintage/Random House, New York 1994
Keywords: Architecture Education; Design Process; Design Methods: Research-

by-design; Plan Analysis; Typo-morphological Research; Phenomenology.
A Process Oriented Approach As Common Ground
The Faculty of Architecture, Delft University of Technology is renowned for its open and
innovative approach to architecture in general and architectural design especially. Considerable
numbers of Erasmus and International students join every year the master‘s program.
128
Due to student revolts of the early 1970s (and the faculty‘s engineering background) studio
teaching focuses foremost on the design process within the so-called ‗project education‘, which
the student and later on, the practicing architect, subsequently and decisively follows. Within
this process the consistent argument is considered more important than the actual architectural
form. Or in other words, ‗style‘ of whatever master architect is not the central issue, but instead
the question how the student of architecture is able to develop a coherent position based on a
working method of relentless enquiry and investigation, elaborating this into attractive and
challenging design proposals and ultimately to find ways in which s/he is able to link this to
developments in society and the actual practice of architecture90. The focus on process also
enhances the idea of continuous change, innovation and transformation. Starting with this
assumption architectural models and design are not fixed or static entities but subjected to an
ongoing process of questioning and change. In the words of Jane Jacobs ‗Truth is made up of
many bits and pieces of reality. The flux and change in itself is of the essence. Change is so
major a truth that we understand process to be the essence of things.‘91
An Architecture Without Qualities?
The open, process-oriented approach could be regarded as leading to an ‗architecture without

qualities‘92. By nature, it carries a double-faced nature. On one hand it makes it very easy to
relate teaching architectural research and design to a practice that is heading for several aims.
For example, with regard to architectural practice in the Netherlands during the 1980s, findings
developed within the Faculty of Architecture in Delft were directly implemented into the planning
and design practice of urban renewal in Amsterdam and Rotterdam. Districts (or
neighborhoods) like the Oude Westen in Rotterdam were considered as ‗laboratories‘, where a
variety of methods and approaches could be tested in terms of typo-morphological research in
particular based on the rediscovery of the historical city as the actual body of architectural
knowledge and instruments. Later on, municipalities working on the restructuring of former
harbour and industrial areas, but also in the case of the development of suburban Vinex sites,
also carried out this tradition of experiment and renewal. Moreover, within this framework, other
commissioners, like school boards and professional real estate developers acted likewise
having an eye for experiment and innovation.
Additionally, the whole development was accompanied by broad discussions in public and
architectural magazines, architectural and urban design competitions organized for example by
the Rotterdamse Kunststichting resulting in the AIR competition for De Kop van Zuid and the
Müller Pier in Rotterdam, and the Oostelijke Havengebieden in Amsterdam.
The results of these experiments rendered the Netherlands, i.e. Dutch architecture and
specifically its architects once again93 renowned, if we think of the architectural practices and
designs of OMA/Rem Koolhaas, Neutelings Riedijk, KCAP, MVRDV, Mecanoo and their
colleagues.
90
See also: Leen van Duin, Henk Engel, Architectuurfragmenten 1, Typologie en OntwerpmethodenPublikatiebureau
Bouwkunde, Delft 1991;Henk Engel, Susanne Komossa, Erik Terlouw, Architectuurfragmenten 2; De vraag naar stijl
(Delft: Publikatiebureau Bouwkunde 1995).
91
Jane Jacobs, Systems of survival; A Dialogue on the Moral Foundations of Commerce and Politics (New York:
Vintage/Random House 1994).
92
The term refers to Ulrich, the main figure in Robert Musil‘s famous novel ‗Der Mann ohne Eigenschaften‘ (1930),
who because of too many possibilities is not able to dedicate himself to a single one.
93 th
After the local rationalism of Berlage in the beginning of the 20 century, the Modern Movement during 1920s and
the 1950/60s of van Tijen, van Eyck, Bakema et altri.
129
On the other hand, being so practical, operative and applied, methods of architectural research
and design were in the best engineering tradition during the last two decennia only partly
properly theoretically underpinned and assessed in a comprehensive and critical way.
One might state that the consistent, free and open-ended approach to architectural design
seems to be rather unique, but is at the same time vulnerable because the knowledge it
produces – next to its products, the designs – remains often implicit. In my view, due to the
economic crisis in the European building industry and the increasing international, even global
environment of architectural research, practice and education, we as practicing architects,
researchers and educators need to continue writing theory and make our approach in a
theoretical and methodological sense more explicit.
Common Ground
If we look at the architectural positions held at Faculty of Architecture in Delft it becomes evident
that panoply of approaches with regard to research and education in the design studios of the
Bachelor and Master program are (re)presented94. As said, they share a process orientated
studio approach as a common ground, in which some assumptions are shared:
- The architectural drawing and/or scale model are constitutional for the research and the design
process.
- Architectural design is a cyclic process in which analysis/research and design alternate.
- Designing architecture is a craft, which needs practice and reflection.
- The moment of innovation/evocation of a future reality has to be localized on interface

between analysis/research and design.
- The quality of the architectural design is not absolute, but based on measuring up with others,
including architectural precedents, the societal / architectural discourses and the actual
performance of the realized design on short and long term.
Architectural Precedents & Models
Especially with regard to the quality of the architectural design the notion of precedent is crucial.
The word ‗precedent‘ is generally understood to mean a prior (‗preceding‘) example of best
practice to which the current design can be compared. It is also a way of close reading and
deconstructing designs. Based on comparison the current design can be evaluated. Moreover,
predictions can be formulated about its possible future performance.
Architectural precedents are usually architectural models, from a recent or distant past. Castex
et al.,95 define the architectural model as the actual architectural project, based on specific rules,
concepts and techniques. Various projects may share the same rules and techniques resulting
in distinguishable architectural or urban planning models. On could say, in each plan and
design, forms and operations are expressed that structure their composition, which refer to a set
94
Dirk van den Heuvel, Susanne Komossa (editors), Delft Lecture Series on Architectural Design (TU-Delft: BK-
blackboard, February 2013 second edition).
95
Jean Castex, Jean Charles Depaule, Philip Panerai, Formes Urbaine: de l‘îlot à la barre (Paris: Bordas 1977).
Translated into Dutch under the title ‗De Rationele Stad, Van Bouwblok tot Wooneenheid‘ (Nijmegen: SUN 1984).
The English edition: Urban Forms: The death and life of the Urban block, was published under the title (London:
Architectural Press 2004).
130
of concepts, references, rules96 and specific techniques that serve as the basis for the design.
Subsequently with regard to the relation between social and societal aims, the architectural
model and history Castex et al. state: ‗The term ‗architectural model‘ makes clear that the
development of form is not directly related to the translation of a social aim, but that during the
development of the design form mediations are used that are specific to architecture and whose
history has yet to be written. In the distance between this specific history of mediation and the
more general history of society lays the potential input of the discipline of architecture, but also
its limits.97‘ This implicates that studies of architectural or urban precedents and models are not
architectural history studies, for they do not set out to construct (or reconstruct) history in the
sense of establishing causal links on the basis of written sources and archive material. Nor are
they architectural theory studies of the coherence and development of various design theories
and ideas.
However, the reason to study precedents and models is the assumption that we cannot look at
the future without looking back, without knowing about their nature and qualities of the past. Or
to put in other words, architects cannot produce satisfactory designs for the future without
knowing their precedents. This also implies that architectural models, together with the various
associated typologies, are understood as the vehicles and the core of architectural knowledge.
Additionally, by carrying knowledge and the history of mediation, they are not value-free.
Architectural Positions; Three current Delft approaches to architectural precedents
To begin with, we can distinguish the group of researchers and designers that intend to critically
investigate the Project of Modernity. Twentieth century avant-garde has had gained a central
role in the faculty‘s history of teaching architecture. This tradition started with the appointment of
Jo van den Broek, representing pre- and as well after war Modernism, as a professor from 1947
to 1964. This initially functionalist/modernist approach fitted the faculty‘s engineering tradition
rather well. Subsequently, his office companion Jacob Bakema (van den Broek Bakema) in
1964 and in 1966, Aldo van Eyck, Herman Hertzberger e.a, followed him. Bakema, van Eyck
and Hertzberger were members of Forum and TEAM X group who had entered from the 50ties
onward into a critical evaluation of CIAM principles. Van Eyck and Hertzberger developed
during these years the structuralist approach to architecture.
During the 1970 and 1980ties Max Risselada, who belonged to the first group of students taught
by the new professors, re-evaluated the Modernist legacy legacies for example with precedent
studies like ‗Raumplan versus Plan Libre98‘, books on Hans Scharoun, the Smithons & Team X,
the famous ‗Plannenmappen‘ (design documentations) and exhibitions on the work of architects,
which were considered to represent central positions. Risselada developed plan analysis as a
technique to study architectural precedents. It is a method for selecting, documenting,
describing, analysing and interpreting architectural designs.99 Plan analysis as a method of
documentation and analysis allows designs to be compared and categorised. It also provides a
verifiable basis for asking questions and formulating interpretations. Plan analysis as developed
in Delft usually focuses on those aspects of the architectural model that also arise during the
96
Within the notion of the architectural model rules and techniques refer to specific architectural categories, like for
example the typology, which a series of models share.
97
ibid. Dutch edition, 222.
98
Max Risselada, Raumplan versus Plan Libre ( Delft: DUP 1987).
99
Max Risselada, Voorwoord in: Frits Palmboom, Doel en Vermaak in het Konstruktivisme, 8 Projekten voor Woning-
en Stedebouw OSA-Sovjet Unie 1926-1930 (Nijmegen: Sunschrift 142, SUN, 1979), 8. In his ‗Voorwoord‘ Risselada
lists Henk Engel, Jan de Heer, Frits Palmboom and Anna Vos as students (student assistants) that collaborated with
him in the Werkgroep (seminar), which developed the initial Delft approach to plan analysis.
131
actual design process as relatively independent ‗layers of design‘ because they can be
developed as separate layers within that process. These coordinated ‗layers‘ together are
assumed to form the architectural design. Aspects that form part of both the architectural model
and the design are: the nature and ordering of the functional programme; the material ordering
of the design in relation to systems of measurement, strength and tactile properties of materials,
routing and spatial sequences. Additionally situation analysis seeks to determine how the
design is embedded in a specific location, as well as how interaction between the specific
location and the design is shaped.100
There have so far been two distinct lines of thought in the Delft tradition of plan analysis: one, as
said represented by Max Risselada and Bernard Leupen101 mainly focuses on the constituent
‗layers‘ in architectural designs and models. In the 1970s and 1980s this group devised a variety
of techniques for unravelling designs and making them readable – not only drawing
techniques,102 but also construction of scale models, exhibition concepts and layout techniques.
In architecture practise Erik van Egeraat (EEA), Francine Houben (Meccano) and professor of
Architecture, chair of Dwelling, Dick van Gameren are off-springs of this ‗school‘. In the
academically setting Christoph Gräfe, Tom Avermaete and Dirk Van den Heuvel subsequently
continue Risselada‘s work within the Architecture research program ‗Revisions: Changing Ideals
and Shifting Realities, The European Welfare state Project‟103.
The second Delft position establishes a (neo)rationalist position under influence of Italian
thinking of Manfredo Tafuri, Aldo Rossi and Georgio Grassi focussing on the relative autonomy
of architecture by applying typological research of basic building and typo-morphological studies
for urban analysis. In Delft this line centres in the research and teaching of Carel Weeber, Leen
van Duin, Umberto Barbieri104 and Henk Engel105. At the end of the 1970s Leen van Duin,
formerly related to the sector ‗design methods and functional analysis‘, introduced the notion of
‗typology‘ and ‗typological research‘ into studio teaching. This approach106 also focuses on the
100
The idea of division into various ‗design layers‘ was further developed at Delft University of Technology‘s Faculty
of Architecture by Leen van Duin, Henk Engel and others, and applied during the 1980s and 1990s in a series of
lectures and publications entitled Architektuurfragmenten .
101
For example, Berhard Leupen, later Gräfe et al., Ontwerp en analyse, 1993 and see also: Heuvel, Dirk van den,
Madeleine Steigenga, Jaap van Triest; Lessons: Tupker/Risselada; a double portrait of Dutch architectural education
1953/2003 – lessen: Tupker/Risselada, dubbel portet van het Netherlands architectuuronderwijs 1953/2003
Amsterdam: SUN 2003).
102
See the various Plannenmappen and Raumplan versus Plan Libre (1987), compiled and published by Max
Risselada, often in collaboration with students or student assistants.
103
‗Revisions: Changing Ideals and Shifting realities in TUD Research Portfolio Architecture 2005 – 2011, 44 -51 and
62-64 and 71-73.
104
Currently all emeriti professors of the res. Chair of ‗Design Methods‘, ‗Typology‘ and ‗Architectural Composition‘.
105
In 1984 Henk Engel initiated and wrote the postscript for the Dutch translation of Jean Castex, Jean Charles
Depaule, Philip Panerai, Formes Urbaine: de l‘îlot à la barre (Paris: Bordas 1977) under the Dutch title ‗De Rationele
Stad, Van Bouwblok tot Wooneenheid‘ (Nijmegen: SUN 1984). As a member of the Vakgroep Woningbouw en
Stedenbouwkundige Vormgeving and the Sectie Architectuurtheorie of the Projectraad, Faculty of Architecture in
Delft he worked together with Henk Hoeks and Jan Hoffmans (editors/translation). The study was initially conducted
by the authors within the framework of Association de Recherche de l‘Ecole d‘Architecture en d‘Urbanisme de
Versailles (ADROS-UP3) that focused on ‗the relation between spatial organisation and societal practises (ruimtelijke
organisatie / maatschappelijke praktijk)‘ 8. Including this relationship was new at the time and was later further
developed in Susanne Komossa, Han Meyer, Max Risselada, Sabien Thomaes, Nynke Jutten, Atlas van het
Hollandse Bouwblok, English edition: Atlas of the Dutch Urban Block, (Bussum: Thoth 2003/2005) and Susanne
Komossa, Hollands Bouwblok and Publiek Domein, Model, regel en ideal, English edition: The Dutch Urban Block
and the Public Realm; Models, Rules, Ideals (Nijmegen: Vantilt, 2010).
106
See Umberto Barbieri and Cees Boekraad, Kritiek en ontwerp Nijmegen: SUN1982), Leen Van Duin and Umberto
Barbieri, A hundred years of Dutch architecture 1901-2000, 2003 (originally published in Dutch as Honderd jaar
Nederlandse architectuur 1901-2000 Nijmgen: SUN 1999), and the scientific journal OverHolland, edited by Henk
Engel (Amsterdam: SUN Publishers since 2000).
132
various layers of the architectural design in the sense of analysis and design(ing), but follows
Tafuri107 by including typology (the way in which the design is linked to similar plans and
predecessors and, for example, large and small spaces are ordered, the architectural
knowledge carried by types and the like), the architectural composition of the parts of the
building and spaces, the tectonics, i.e. the ‗image‘ projected by the building into the situation.
Urban analysis, in fact the morphological research108 provided additionally a method to study
architecture of cities, buildings and blocks within the urban context.
Context in the broad sense of the term was not part of classic plan analysis. However, in order
to devise architectural theories and concepts, as well as to develop ‗operational criticism‘ the
rationalist school takes also into account the context in which theory and design arise and are
put into practice. Operational criticism has given university research a new socio-political and
critical dimension and platform for acting.
Notwithstanding, in the context of researching, teaching and developing a third approach to

architecture at the Delft Faculty, the assistant professors Vincent Ligtelijn and Rein Saariste
have to be mentioned. As former students of Jacob Bakema and Aldo van Eyck they took the
Revision of Modernism into a different direction than Max Risselada c.s. by not re-evaluating the
historical avant-garde of the 1920ties and its after war heirs, but by turning back to the early
modern of the nineteenth century and begin of the twentieth. In a way they can be depicted as
the Dutch followers of Colin Rowe as a former student of Rudolph Wittkower. Within this
approach, which dates back to the speculative109 tradition of the Warburg Institute, the past is
critically questioned with regard to its relevance today. Unlike Rowe‘s approach as presented in
Collage city110, architectural composition, as such and the material qualities of architecture were
especially stressed in project analyses, publications, excursions and weekly studio lectures and
the like. These activities, which centred on the work of early modern architects like Gaudi, Jujol
and Plecnik, Greene & Greene, Goff addressed foremost the specific, a-typical, sometimes
idiosyncratic of the project. Looking back one could say that Ligtelijn and Saariste used the
phenomenological approach of van Van Eyck to move out of structuralism in order to enter into
a broader (American?) approach, which is founded on the phenomenology of perception.
Basically Saariste‘s and Ligtelijn‘s111 unorthodox attitude let to a postmodern position, which for
Delft was avant-la-lettre. It was their group of students that invited Rem Koolhaas in the early
1980ties via the history department, Jan van Geest, to lecture on his book ‗Delirious New York‘
and operate as their graduation tutor. With his lectures, Koolhaas additionally introduced Dali‘s
Paranoid-critical method to the faculty. ‗Created in the early 1930‘s by Dali himself, the
―Paranoid-Critical‖ method is a Surrealist method used to help an artist tap into their
subconscious through systematic irrational thought and a self-induced paranoid state. By
inducing this paranoid state one can forego one‘s previous notions, concepts, and
107
The development of the plan analysis technique at Delft University of Technology‘s Faculty of Architecture
coincided with the reception and Dutch translation (in 1978) of Tafuri‘s Progetto e utopia (1973). English edition:
Architecture and utopia (1976). The intended purpose was ‗operative criticism‘: a form of architectural or urban
research that was an ‗attempt to actualise history, to turn it into a supple instrument for action (i.e. design)‘ (from
Tafuri‘s Theories and history of architecture, 1980, originally published in Italian as Teorie e storia dell‟architettura
(1968) and quoted in Claessens, De stad als architectonische constructie (Delft: TUD Repository 2005) 42.
108
For morphological analysis techniques in the fields of landscape and urban planning, see Reh, Arcadia en
Metropolis, 1996, and Hooimeijer , Meyer et al., Atlas of Dutch water cities (Nijmegen: SUN 2005).
109
In Latin the Nome ‗speculator‘ enhances the guardian, messenger, look out, spy, but also the investigator and
explorer. The verb ‗to speculate‘ in English means to see, to meditate on a subject and to engage in a course of
reasoning based on inconclusive evidence, Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 2006.
110
Rowe, Colin, Fred Koetter, Collage City (Cambridge Mass.: MIT Press 1978). Initially Collage City was published a
special issue of The Architectural Review in 1975.
111
See for example: Ligtelijn, Vincent, Rein Saariste; Josep M. Jujol (Rotterdam: NAI 1996).
133
understanding of the world and reality in order to view the world in new, different and more
unique ways.‘ 112 And so they did.
Usually students that were subject to Saariste and Ligtelijn‘s design education would end their
Architecture Master‘s before actually graduating in the studios of Leen van Duin and later
Umberto Barbieri, which acquainted them with the neo-rationalist position. This amalgam of
speculative113 and rationalistic is, as far as I know, rather unique in the world of architectural
design education. In a certain sense professor of Architecture, chair of Public Building, Michiel
Riedijk can be considered a follower of this ‗school‘. In architectural practise this amalgam
informed the education of currently rather known architects like Kees Christiaanse (KCAP), Frits
van Dongen (ArchitectenCie.), Paul de Vroom/Herman de Kovel (DKV) and Joris Molenaar
(Molenaar & Co).
In Conclusion
In the above described lines of thought114 and approaches to architectural precedents the
development of plan analysis and the latter typo and typo-morphological research coincided
with the period in which re-examination of the ‗relative autonomy of the discipline‘ of architecture
was a key part of the fundamental criticism of functionalism. There was a wish to emphasise the
independence of architecture as a profession with rules all of its own. Moreover, in the university
setting the development of architectural theories, concepts and plan analysis were in line with
efforts to treat architecture as an ‗objective science‘.
With regard to their understanding of architectural history the typological and morphological
approaches use the idea of la storia operante – literally ‗working history‘, which assumes that
the past realises itself in the present. To cite again Castex reflecting on the designs and
morphological research of Saverio Muratori115: ‗The concept of la storia operante was borrowed
from the ideas of Benedetto Croce, no longer proclaiming the strength of contrasts but the need
to allow distinctions. In contrast to the excesses of abstraction, this called for a ‗transfigured
intuition‘, a way of thinking that linked up the distinct elements. Perhaps la storia operante could
be rendered as ‗history at work in the present‘, the analysis (‗reading‘) and the design being
identical. Muratori was an absolute historicist; like Croce, he thought of history ‗as thought and
as action.116‘ Though recognising the complex thought underlying this argument, it becomes
clear within the typo-morphological approach that the notion of historical continuity and constant
transformation holds a central position. Basically it assumes, there is only history and therefore
architectural models transform continuously, differ and are distinct but are always carrying
elements from the past. Consequently, in this approach to history and design the ‗tabula rasa‘,
here called ‗contrast‘, the completely new, referred to as ‗abstractions‘, are not an option.
112
(http://www.tufts.edu/programs/mma/fah188/clifford/Subsections/Paranoid%20Critical/paranoidcriticalmethod.html)
113
Architecture‘s studio and design teaching was paralleled by architecture history courses of Kees Vollemans during
that period who introduced French critical thinking, for example Michel Foucault, Gilles Deleuze and Luce Irigaray to
the Faculty of Architecture in Delft. In fact, this enhanced the approach, which can be labelled „deconstructive‟ on one
hand and at the same time „phenomenological‟.
114
Which‘s developments can be traced in the thematically shifts and focuses of OASE, Tijdschrift voor Architectuur /
Journal for Architecture from 1980 till today (Nijmegen: SUN).
115
Jean Castex Saverio Muratori (1910-1973), The City as the only model, A critical study, a century after Muratori‘s
birth, unpublished manuscript Muratori Centennial / EAAE-ISUF New Urban Configurations Conference (Delft: TUD
October 2012) 16.
116
Ibidem: From Pigafetta, G., Saverio Muratori architetto: teoria e progetti.
134
With reference to plan analysis and the phenomenological and speculative approaches to
architectural design Walter Benjamin‘s notion of past and present comes to mind. His notion
especially appeals to architect‘s fascinations as gatherers and hunters of ideas and inspirations,
as collectionneurs and bricoleurs at work with the ‗divinatory gaze of the collector‟. ‗The
―afterlife of works‖ …. is Benjamin‘s central term… for the historical object of interpretation: that
which, under the divinatory gaze of the collector, is taken up into the collectors own particular
time and place, thereby throwing pointed light on what has been. Welcomed into a present
moment that seems to be waiting just for it – ―actualized,‖ … the moment from the past comes
alive as never before. In this way the ―now‖ is itself experienced and performed in the ―then‖...
The historical object is reborn as such into the present day. This is the famous ―now of
recongnizability‖ (Jetzt der Erkennbarheit), which has the character of a lightening flash. … Here
… is the ur-historical, collective redemption of lost time, of the times embedded in the spaces of
things.‘117 Basically Benjamin uses mimesis118, not the notion of analogy like Aldo Rossi, in
order to mirror past and present, and vice versa. Benjamin‘s notion potentially describes the
way in which architects pick up things and objects, ideas from all kinds of fields including art, but
also architectural precedents and models. By doing so, they select, document and interpret the
objects of the past and shed new light upon them. In that sense, architectural design means that
at every time something new is recognised, collected, experienced and accordingly to the
collector‘s fascination, reworked and reshaped and therefore - ‗rescued from the redemptory of
lost time‘ - never disappearing from history, but mirroring it again and again in new ways.
In essence, architectural models, precedents and history do not automatically provide starting
points for new designs. The architectural position must be reformulated and researched afresh
for each new design within the context of the specific project and the associated questions and
formulation of new ideals, in order generate knowledge and information for the design process
leading to ‗adequate‘ designs. However, the consequent incorporation of the study of
precedents into the design process and teaching of architecture proved to be fruitful in reaching
common ground. Based on consistent argument they help to structure, inform and question the
actual design process and its subsequent products in a systematically way.
117
Translators‘ Foreword in: Benjamin, Walter, (Howard Eiland, Kevin McLaughlin transl.); The Arcades project;
(Cambridge: Harvard University Press 2002) XII.
118
‗Die Ähnlichkeit (ist) das Organon der Erfahrung‘ (Resemblance (is) the Organon of Experience‘, Walter Benjamin,
The Arcades project (Cambridge: Harvard University Press 2002). German edition: Das Passagenwerk (Frankfurt a.
M. 1982). See also ‗Mimesis, imitatie, spel: esthetische denkfiguren in de architectuurtheorie‘ in: Hilde Heynen, André
Loeckx, Lieven de Cauter, Karina van Herk (eds.), Dat is architectuur, sleutelteksten uit de twintigste eeuw
(Rotterdam: 010 2004).
135
Research and Architecture & Urbanism and PhD programs in the

European Mediterranean context - patterns and links
A.Nuno Martins
ISMAT, Instituto Manuel Teixeira Gomes, Portugal
[email protected]
Architect (FAUTL, 1990) and Assistant Professor at the Master of Architecture at the ISMAT/Lusofona University
Group , in Portugal.. MSc. in Architecture&Urbanism (FAUTL) and Ph.D. with formation in Urbanism (UPC) and
Architecture (UBI). Author of books and chapters of books and more than twenty papers. Research interest areas:
cultural landscape and sustainable architecture and eco-urbanism
Miguel Santiago Fernandes

ISMAT, Instituto Manuel Teixeira Gomes, Portugal
[email protected]
Miguel Santiago was born in 1970, Coimbra. Professor at Universidade da Beira Interior, Departamento de
Engenharia Civil e Arquitectura, Portugal and researcher at Centro de Investigação em Território, Arquitectura e
Design (CITAD). He received his Ph D. from the Universidade de Lisboa (Universidade Técnica) in 2005, with a
thesis entitled Pancho Guedes ...+ de meio século de Metamorfoses Espaciais. Office in Lisboa since 1993. Email:
Abstract
In the last decade architecture and urbanism research has been gaining an important role
in the national research framework according to the increasingly numbers of R&D
projects financed by regional and national governments, usually benefiting of Union
European Grants.
To this consolidation of architecture and urbanism as recognized scientific areas of study

we can point out a few strategic contributions:
 The recent dissemination of school of architecture

 The systematization of the 3rd cycle of studies following the Bologna process
directives
 The increasingly numbers of centres of studies, scientific journals and
international meetings and conferences, which are closely related each other
 The National and Union European found for support architectural & urbanistic
research.
 This paper focuses the current experience on architecture & urbanism
research in relation to PhD programs.
 Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, Greece and Turkey on going experiences will
be observed searching for patterns and tendencies.
The research will explore the hypothesis that the Mediterranean geography context
ensures cultural educational relations that are suitable to be analysed in a comparative
136
perspective, within the framework of the Bologna process implementation. As main

source of information, the investigation uses the university websites of those universities
that offer both structured and no-structured doctoral programs. The aim is, therefore, to
identify regional affinities and particularities in architecture & urbanism research and
doctoral education, in order to suggest educational harmonization proposals and open
new possibilities of exchange, mobility and international research projects.
Keywords: architectural research, urbanistic research, PhD programs in architecture,

rd
PhD programs in urbanism, Bologna process, 3 cycle in Architecture
Background and research goals
Fifteen years ago the Sorbonne declaration focused, for the first time, the designing a common
degree level system for doctoral degrees (Vassiliou, 2010). Five years later, in 2003, the Berlin
Conference stated the inclusion of the doctorate as the third cycle of Bologna process. Finally,
in 2005, the so-called Salzburg Principles Eight established the doctorate principles119 in the
European Higher Education Area (EHEA) (Cristensen, 2005).120
In the meantime, the European landscape of structured PhD programs in architecture and
urbanism changed enormously. For instance, countries such as Spain and Italy largely
increased their doctoral programs offer and others countries, where those programs barely
existed, such as Portugal and Turkey, progressively became part of the club of countries with
significant number of schools of architecture carrying on PhD programs. In the last decade
representative institutions of the schools such as the European Association for Architectural
Education (EAAE) and the European Network of Heads of Schools of Architecture (ENHSA)
played an important role in the discussion of doctoral issues, promoting several scientific
meetings and a web-database on research related to Ph.D.
The dialogue among many scholars that accumulate an academic career with a practitioner
activity, lead to another point of discussion, a recurrent point, in recent times of the mentioned
European discussion on the doctoral education goals– the preparation of so-called Ph.D.
architects for the labour market.
Regarding with doctoral education character, the European University Association (EUA) points
out research as the central axis of doctoral programs:
119
Reminding four principles of the consensus emerged and the Salzburg discussion:
1. The core component of doctoral training is the advancement of knowledge through original research. At the same
time it is recognized that doctoral training must increasingly meet the needs of an employment market that is wider
than academia.
3.The importance of diversity: the rich diversity of doctoral programs in Europe, including
joint doctorates, is a strength which has to be underpinned by quality and sound practice.
8. The promotion of innovative structures: to meet the challenge of interdisciplinary training and
the development of transferable skills.
9. Increasing mobility: doctoral programs should seek to offer geographical as well as interdisciplinary and
intersectoral mobility and international collaboration within an integrated framework of cooperation between
universities and other partners.
120
EHEA, (2005), ―The European Higher Education Area‖, Achieving the Goals, Communiqu of the Conference of
European Ministers Responsible for Higher Education, Bergen, 19-20 May 2005, available in
http://www.ehea.info/Uploads/Related%20EU%20activities/Report-from-BerlintoBergen-May-2005.pdf
137
―Its main characteristic, which makes it specific, is that the most predominant and essential
component of the doctorate is research. Doctoral candidates have to prove their ability to perform
original and independent research within a scientific discipline or interdisciplinary collaboration.‖
121
Despite of this common sense about the nature of the doctoral education, the schools of
architecture insist to analyse the possibilities of link research to project, it means education to
practice. Most recent EAAE meetings showed a consensus in this matter, underlining the
emerging of the method of research by project
However, some goals announced by the Bologna Declaration and rapidly followed by the
generality European education institutions, especially those focused on mobility and
interchange122, seems to be delayed.
In addition, the impact of the Bologna process in the third cycle of education in Architecture
have been little discussed and is still an issue (Spiridonidis & Voyatzaki, 2010). The most
recent attention given to the subject by institutions such as ENHSA and EAAE, is a clear signal
that there is a substantial work to do in the organization of doctoral degree, particularly if ones
compares the stabilisation achieved by the universities members of the EUA, concerning to the
master degree.
Based on the hypothesis of a common geographical and cultural framework, the paper focus
current PhD programs in Architecture or/and Urbanism running in a selected group of
Mediterranean countries: Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, Greece and Turkey.
An observation of the offer of courses, followed by the systemisation of the information, allow
searching for repetition patterns and tendencies in the and the correspondent research areas of
concentration presents in these doctoral programs. Instead of evaluating or interpreting these
patterns and tendencies the idea is mapping them, giving visibility to the direction chosen by
schools or department of architecture scientific boards in regard to fields of research.
The aim is, therefore, investigate global and regional affinities, in order to identify the potential
for interaction, namely for mobility exchange (EUA, 2005), joint doctorates and international
projects, between schools and countries within the framework of the EHEA.
Methods- data collection criteria
Research methods lies on the assessment of data, composition of a database and cross
interpretation after consultation of the university websites (the unique source available at this
stage of the research).
The database comprises information about PhD programs in Architecture (A) and Urbanism (U)
or mix programs, A+U and include both structured and no structured doctoral offer.
121
Doctoral programs for the European knowledge society Report on the EUA doctoral Programs project, 20-04-
2005.
122
Such as ―Promotion of European co-operation in quality assurance with a view to developing comparable criteria
and methodologies. ― and ―Promotion of the necessary European dimensions in higher education, particularly with
regards to curricular development, inter-institutional co-operation, mobility schemes and integrated programs of
study, training and research.‖
138
There will be two different kinds of data. The first one we will examine the offer of PhD
Programs, the second one will scrutinise the different fields of study that covers the large
majority of the courses proposed by structured doctorate programs in Architectures and
Urbanism in each country, no matter if they are scholarised program format or not scholarised, it
means, individual format (Ochoa&Molero, 2011). In this last case, the focus was the
concentration of areas of research. In some cases, like for example in Greece, a country that is
particularly resistant to structured programs, the titles of finished thesis constitute a reliable
indicator.
After collected the information is grouped by schools and after that by countries and finally, by
most common fields of study (Moore, 1997) and those are the following:
i) Theory, History and Critic of Architecture

ii) Building Technology
iii) Urbanism and City History
iv) Sustainability and Energy Efficiency
v) Graphic Representation & Digital process
vi) Heritage and Architectonic Rehabilitation
vii) Housing
viii) Urban Morphology / Urban Design
ix) Architectural Design / Architectural Projects
By registering the occurrences observed in each PhD program checked (in different
spreadsheets) the data will be grouped by countries in:
i)
ii) Architecture, Urbanism, or Architecture and Urbanism

iii) Theme: Research or PhD Programs
iv) Institutions
v) R&D Centers
Dealing with multiple variables, it is necessary to cross them, systematise and evaluate
information. Final bars and round charts show the presence of each field of study in all
countries, allowing a comparison between them.
Results- presentation of data collection
Data collection- Global comparison according to fields of research occurrences after

consultation of websites schools123
123
List of schools consulted in Annex I at the end of the article
Data was collect after consulting the website of universities listed at the end of the paper. In theory these are the
universities that are carrying on PhD programs that use or accept English language and that publicity their offer in a
English version of the website. Our main purpose was always to find a detailed list of all the subjects studied in each
PhD program. With this list we tried to find inside the main fields of study already defined by us the ones that
matched. When there was no list available we tried to find a text with a presentation of the program from which we
139
Fig. 1 Theory, History and Critic of Architecture (THCA)
Fig. 2 Building Technology (BT)
Fig. 3 Urbanism and City History (UCH)
could also draw some conclusions.

This research might undergo adjustments after the results obtained through a more detailed questionnaire that will be
sent to universities.
140
Fig. 4 Sustainability and Energy Efficiency (SEE)
Fig. 5 Graphic Representation & Digital process (GRDP)
Fig. 6 Heritage and Architectonic Rehabilitation (HAR)
141
Fig. 7 Housing (H)
Fig. 8 Urban Morphology / Urban Design (UM/UD)
Fig. 9 Architectural Design & Architecture Projects (AD&AP)
Data collection interpretation- tendencies of research areas
Analysing individual countries concentration areas of study, Portugal and Spain presents
diversity, highlighting three areas – Urban Morphology / Urban Design, Urbanism and City
History and Theory, History and Critic of Architecture, however, in Spain, the Building
Technology, assumes a more important role.
In France, research is concentrated in two poles: Morphology by Urban / Urban Design and
Urbanism and City History, while the Italian case is very similar to Spanish, with the prominence
of the three aforementioned areas, THCA, UM/UD, UCH and with BT acquiring a reasonable
142
expression.
Greece presents a particularity situation, with four equivalent concentration areas of research,
the previous UM/UD, UCH and introducing something new in the gathering, Graphic
Representation & Digital Process and Sustainability and Energy Efficiency.
Finally, in Turkey presents five homogeneous areas of concentration- repeating THCA and
Urbanism and City History, and promoting Building Technology, Sustainability and Energy
Efficiency; Graphic Representation & Digital Process. No occurrences of the field of
Architectonic Heritage Rehabilitation were registered.
In a more general analysis across countries, we can make a connection between the courses
that focus primarily on Architecture (A) and Urbanism (U), or more generally in the mix and
synthesis between these two study areas.
Again, the case of Greece is very specific; due to the fact that aren‘t structured programs,
doctorates offer candidates the possibility of developing research and thesis in both architecture
or/and urbanism. Portugal and Spain have very similar characteristics, with architecture
programs clearly majority followed by mix programs comprising both disciplines. Turkey
maintains parity between Urbanism and A + U, but, the some as Italy, underlines Architecture in
the first place. Differently from the majority of countries Italy gives greater emphasis to
Urbanism while France assumes a singular position with a significant dominance offer of mixed
doctoral programs (A + U).
Finally, paying attention to figures 1 to 9, it is possible to make a comparative analysis between

countries considering the frequency of fields of research.
Theory, History and Critic of Architecture and Building Technology are very significant areas of
concentration in all countries featuring the countries with more absolute number of PhD
programs- Spain, followed by Italy. Both areas are and not so much relevant in countries such
as France, Portugal and Turkey and below all, Greece.
Urbanism and City History are also relevant in Spain and Italy, more closely followed, by France
and Portugal, and with less relevance in Greece and Turkey.
Sustainability and Energy Efficiency is a quite recent hot topic spread out all over selected
countries, however, with contrasting frame ranges. Spain leads the number of occurrences,
again closely followed by Italy. More far appear France and, with even less expression, Turkey,
Portugal and Greece.
Graphic Representation & Digital Process presents a similar expression and also with three
ranges, with Spain and Italy at the top. Changing positions, Portugal and Turkey prevail over
France with Greece at the bottom.
Architectonic Heritage and Rehabilitation is scarcely represented in France, Greece and Turkey,
a little bit more in Portugal and pretty represented in Italy and, above all, again, in Spain.
Housing is a study area sparsely focused. Thus, only three countries stand out this subject, but
now with great emphasis on Italy with the half of the occurrences. The remaining occurrences
are divided equally between Portugal and Spain.
Urban Morphology/Urban Design comes out as one of the most represented concentration area
of study and, once again Spain and Italy excel in the charts. In a lowest ranking are France and
Portugal while Greece and Turkey demonstrates little attention to this topic.
Architectural Design arises in the second position in terms of areas of concentration observed in
PhD Programs presenting two groups, one composed by the expected Spain and Italy and the
other one by the remaining countries.
143
Final remarks - overview and perspectives
Concerning to the main focus of the research and dominant thematic areas of study, the results
obtained point out significant affinities between small groups of countries and slight affinities for
the whole set of selected countries. From this result emerges a first vision of a Mediterranean
specificity in regard to architectural and urbanism research topics. These findings confirm the
possibilities of developing, in some cases starting, in another cases expanding, international
cooperation - joint doctorates, mobility exchange and projects partnerships..
The idea is to integrate the results of this research with the ongoing study promoted by the
ENHSA. Recent forum of this association were organized upon three complementary themes,
“Forms and reforms of Doctoral education in Schools of Architecture in Europe, Thesis and
hypothesis for the future of doctoral education in Architecture, Synthesis of the researcher‟ s
profile to generate architectural innovation”.124
Also the ENHSA is involved in the creation a network supported by a specific database that
meets the present research data125.
The knowledge achieved about the organization on doctoral programs and on the fields of
research will definitely feed this database and reinforce this network, facilitating basic
information for Ph.D. Programs candidates and while enabling European Doctoral Program
mobility, a mandatory requirement for that title.
Further research will consider the enlargement of the Mediterranean countries sample, including
the Balkan and North African countries, with a view to the hypothesis of a wider geographical
context with common research interests. The diversification of sources information, including
Science Ministries, national institutions and foundations for the promotion of the advancement of
scientific and technological knowledge, might also be considered. Moreover, a survey focused
on Architectural and Urbanism Research developed at R&D centers and schools, accomplished
by specific information of several aspects of the current doctoral programs will be addressed to
selected European Universities. Likely, this work will be based on the sharing of research goals,
gathering methods, final data collection and results, in order to stimulate a greater researchers‘
involvement in the work. 126
The systematization of lines of research in a broader interregional context, such as, for instance,
the Mediterranean basin, might give an impulse to research long term projects on architecture
and urbanism by providing valuable indicators.
124
International Forum on Doctoral Education in Europe, Archidoctor Universalis,. Future of Research in European
Architectural Education, Riga, Latvia 12-14 March 2013, Riga Technical University, School of Architecture.
125
European Observatory of Research in Architecture, available in http://www.enhsa.net/main/observatory/
126
The questionnaire would comprises themes such as when did the PhD Program start, official documents& legal
framework, internal rules, language spoken during classes and accepted for thesis, adaptation to Bologna Process,
program organization (length, stages, ECTS‘s, curricular Subjects, mandatory and optative), number and origin of
students, model of thesis supervising, thesis completed, thematic focus of thesis, funding (scholarship, entities
involved), partnerships, links to R&D centers and to department research projects, number and qualifications, origin
and affiliation of lectures, requirements for students access to thesis (peer review publication, for example), politic of
sharing information (website database, online thesis), management and tutorial (boards, assigning and academic
affiliation of thesis supervisor), possibility of the European PhD degree (according to the EUA), employment market
(response to the European employment market), identity of researchers (reinforcement of a clear professional identity
of researchers) and mobility (added value and specific measures to increase mobility).
144
The more the schools and research centres knows what fields of research other schools and
their peers are dealing with, the more they will recognize the existing potential for exchange and
international partnerships. And the more they will proceed along the path designed by the
Sorbonne declaration (1998) and reinforced by the Bologna Declaration (1999) and its sub-
sequent directives.
References
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society, Salzburg, 3-5 February, 2005, available in
http://www.eua.be/eua/jsp/en/upload/Salzburg_Report_final.1129817011146.pdf, consulted: 12.
April.2013
Hoffman, S., & Croisier, D. (2006), Institutional Guidelines for Quality- enhancement of Joint
Programs, Implemeting Bologna in you Institution, Special Challenges, Planning the three
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PT&sa=X&ei=SzSGUZ_xCMfG7AbzsYDQCw&ved=0CDgQ6AEwAA, consulted in 18.April.2013
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de l‘architecture, de la formation et de la recherche, Bureau de la recherche architecturale,
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Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Summary of a roundtable discussion held at the meeting on Doctoral
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Institute of Technology, College of Architecture Working Paper Series, 1998. Pp. 59-65,
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Pierre von Meiss Transcription, The third session treated the question of the contents of
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Anex I
List of schools consulted - source: university, faculties and departments of architecture or

urbanism websites (consultation: 15th to 30th of March of 2013)
Portugal
(11 doctoral programs)
Program Institution
Doutoramento em Arquitectura Universidade do Porto
Doutoramento em Arquitectura Universidade de Coimbra
Arquitectura e estudos urbanos Universidade Técnica de Lisboa
Curso de Doutoramento em Arquitectura Curso de Doutoramento em Arquitectura

Universidade Técnica de Lisboa
Doutoramento em urbanismo Curso de Doutoramento em Urbanismo
Universidade Técnica de Lisboa
Doutoramento em arquitectura Universidade do Minho
Doutoramento em Arquitectura dos Territórios ISCTE-Instituto Universitário e Lisboa

Metropolitanos Contemporâneos
Arquitectura Universidade da Beira Interior
Programa de Doutoramento em Arquitetura Universidade de Évora
Doutoramento em Arquitectura Universida de Lusíada
Doutoramento em ARQUITECTURA Universidade Lusíada
Spain
Program Institution
Doctorado en Investig. en Arquitectura y Universitat D'Alacant
Urbanismo Sostenibles
Arquitectura Universidad deSevilla
Arquitectura, Urbanismo y Medio Ambiente Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena
Arquitectura y Ciudad: Materiales Para el Universidad de Valladolid

Análisis Arquitectónico y Urbano
Arquitectura y Milenio: Viejos y Nuevos Universidad de Valladolid
Problemas
Doctorado en Periferias, Sostenibilidad y Universidad Politécnica de Madrid
Vitalidad Urbana
Doctorado en Análisis Teoría E Historia de la Universidad Politécnica de Madrid
Arquitectura
Comunicación Visual en Arquitectura y Diseño Universitat Politècnic de Catalunya
Doctorado en Proyectos Arquitectónicos Universidad Politécnica de Madrid

Avanzados
146
Doctorado en Estructuras de la Edificación Universidad Politécnica de Madrid
Idea, Forma y Materia en Arquitectura Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea/Universidad del

País Vasco
M dernidad y Contemporaneidad en la Universidad de Valladolid
Arquitectura
Patología de la Edificación Universitat Politècnica de València
Periferias, Sostenibilidad y Vitalidad Urbana Universidad Politécnica de Madrid
Problemas de la Arquitectura y Ciudad Mo Universidad de Valladolid

derna: Teoría, Historia, Proyectos
Representación, Conocimiento y Arquitectura Universitat Ramón Llull
Teoría y Práctica del Proyecto Universidad Politécnica de Madrid
Urbanismo, Territorio y Sostenibilidad Universitat Politècnica de València
Doctor en Programa Oficial de Posgrado en Universidad de Alcalá

Arquitectura
Doctor en Programa Oficial de Posgrado en Universidad de Sevilla
Arquitectura
Doctor en Programa Oficial de Posgrado en Universidad Internacional de Catalunya
Arquitectura, Ciudad y Territorio
Doctor en Programa Oficial de Posgrado en Universidad Ramón Llull
Arquitectura Construida y Su Gestión
Doctor en Programa Oficial de Posgrado en Universitat Politècnica de València
Arquitectura, Edificación, Urbanística y Paisaje
Doctor en Programa Oficial de Projectes Universidad Politécnica de Catalunya
Arquitectònics
Doctor en Programa Oficial de Posgrado en Universidad Politécnica de Madrid
Urbanismo y Territorio
Doctor en Programa Oficial de Posgrado Máster Universidad de A Coruña
en Urbanismo: Planos y Proyectos del Territorio
y la Ciudad
Doctor en Programa Oficial de Tecnologia del Universidad Politécnica de Catalunya
Arquitectura, Edificació I Urbanisme
Doctor en Programa Oficial de Urbanisme Universidad Politécnica de Catalunya
Programa Oficial de Doctorado en Arquitectura Universidad Camilo José Cela
Programa Oficial de Doctorado en Arquitectura Universidad de Alcalá
Programa Oficial de Doctorado en Arquitectura Universidad de Sevilla
Programa Oficial de Doctorado en Arquitectura Universidad Internacional de Catalunya
Programa Oficial de Doctorado en Arquitectura, Universitat Politècnica de València

Edificación, Urbanística y Paisaje
Programa Oficial de Doctorado en Arquitectura, Universidad Rovira I Virgili
Urbanismo y Edificación
Programa Oficial de Doctorado en Arquitectura, Universidad Rovira I Virgili
Urbanismo y Edificación
Programa Oficial de Doctorado en Arquitectura, Universidad del País Vasco/Euskal Herriko
Urbanismo y Patrimonio Unibertsitatea
Programa Oficial de Doctorado en Arquitectura Universidad Alfonso X El Sabio
y Patrimonio
Programa Oficial de Doctorado en Arquitectura Universidad de A Coruña
y Rehabilitación
Programa Oficial de Doctorado en Planes y Universidad de A Coruña
Proyectos. del Territorio A la Ciudad
Programa Oficial de Doctorado en Arquitectura Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena
y Tecnología de la Edificación
Programa Oficial de Doctorado en Ingeniería y Universidad de Cádiz
Arquitectura
147
Programa Oficial de Doctorado en Ingeniería y Universidad de Jaén

Arquitectura
Programa Oficial de Doctorado en Ingeniería y Universidad Pública de Navarra
Arquitectura
Programa Oficial de Doctorado en Investigación Universidad de Alicante
en Arquitectura y Urbanismo Sostenibles
Programa Oficial de Doctorado en Proyecto Universidad Ramón Llull
Integrado de Arquitectura
Programa Oficial de Doctorado en Proyectos Universidad Politécnica de Madrid
Arquitectónicos Avanzados
Programa Oficial de Doctorado en Urbanismo Universidad Católica San Antonio
Programa Oficial de Doctorado en Urbanismo Universidad Politécnica de Catalunya
Programa Oficial de Doctorado en Urbanismo, Universidad Alfonso X El Sabio

Planificación Territorial y Sostenibilidad Urbana
Doctor en Programa Oficial de Arquitectura, Universidad Politécnica de Catalunya
energia I Medi Ambient
Italy
Program Institution
Ph.D. IN ARCHITECTURE AND BUILDING Politecnico di Torino
DESIGN
Ph.D. IN HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE AND Politecnico di Torino
TOWN PLANNING
Doctorate programme in Architectural IUAV University of Venice
Composition
Doctorate programme in the History of IUAV University of Venice
Architecture and Urban
Phd programme in Urbanism IUAV University of Venice
Phd Program in Architecture and Construction Doctoral School in Architectural Sciences
Phd Program in landscape and environment Doctoral School in Architectural Sciences

design Management and Planning
Phd Architectural Composition Politecnico Di Milano
Phd Urban and Architectural design Politecnico Di Milano
Phd Architecture, Urban design, Conservation Politecnico Di Milano

of Housing and landscape
Phd Technology and design for environment Politecnico Di Milano
and Building
Phd Preservation of Architectural Heritage Politecnico Di Milano
Phd Spatial Planning and Urban development Politecnico Di Milano
Architectural Restoration, and Recovery of Old Third University of Rome

Town Centres
Architectural Technology (phd) University of Ferrara
ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN (XXVI) University of Genova

(Doctorate)
Architecture and Planning (phd) University of Sassari
Architecture/History/ design (phd) Third University of Rome
Building engineering-Architecture (phd) University of Roma 'La Sapienza'
148
Civil engineering and Architecture (phd) University of Pavia
Forms and Architectural design (Doctorate) University of Parma
Green design (phd) (3rd cycle Postgraduate Third University of Rome

Course in Architecture)
History of Architecture (phd) Third University of Rome
History of Architecture and Urban Planning (phd) IUAV University of Venice
Housing - New Ways of Living between Third University of Rome

Innovation and Transformation (phd) (3rd cycle
Postgraduate Course in Architecture)
Phd In Architecture And Construction - Space University of Roma 'La Sapienza'
And Society
Quality of design European Doctorate in IUAV University of Venice
Architecture and Urban Planning
Regional Planning and Public Policy (phd) IUAV University of Venice
Retraining And Recovery Urban Heritage (phd) University of Roma 'La Sapienza'
Seminar in urban history: dwelling in the mo dern Politecnico di Torino

city (phd)
Spatial information systems for architecture and Politecnico di Torino
cultural heritage (phd)
Technological and architectural aspects of Politecnico di Torino
sustainable construction I (phd)
Territorial And Urban Planning (phd) University of Roma 'La Sapienza'
The factory of the world. Tools and techniques of Politecnico di Torino

urban and territorial project (phd)
Urban Planning (phd) IUAV University of Venice
Urban Planning (phd) University of Roma 'La Sapienza'
Urban tracks. Shapes and signs of the city Politecnico di Torino

between description and construction
contemporary urban space (phd)
France
Program Institution
Doctorat en Architecture - Ecole doctorale "Ville, École d'architecture de Paris-Belleville
Transports et Territoires" - Université Paris-Est
Doctorat en Architecture École nationale supérieure d'architecture de Paris-La
Villette
Doctorat en architecture École nationale supérieure d'architecture de Lyon
(ENSAL
Géographie, aménagement et urbanisme University of Lyon
École nationale supérieure d'architecture de Saint-

Étienne
Doctorat en Architecture École Nationale Supérieure d'Architecture de
Versailles
Doctorat spécialité Aménagement de l'espace, Université de Caen Basse-Normandie

urbanisme
Aménagement du territoire, urbanisme, University of Grenoble
architecture (Doctorate)
Doctorat aménagement de l'espace et urbanism University Michel de Montaigne - Bordeaux
Doctorat Urbanisme Et aménagement Du University of Strasbourg

Territoir
149
Docteur de géographie et aménagement des Université de Besançon (Université de Franche

territoires Comté)
Turkey
Program Institution
Architecture, Ph.D. Middle East Technical University
City and Regional Planning (phd) Middle East Technical University
Urban Policy Planning and Local Middle East Technical University

Governments, Ph.D.
Architecture Istanbul Technical University
Architecture Yildiz Technical University
Greece
Program Institution
Doctorate in landscape Architecture Middle East Technical University
s Doctorate in Architecture National Technical University of Athens (NTUA)
Doctorate in Architecture Democritus University of Thrace

Architecture Istanbul Technical University
Acknowledgments:
Raquel Bernardino (Gathering, Portugal)

Jannis Athanasopoulos (Gathering, Greece)
Jorge Marum (Proof Reading, Portugal)
Dominika Gorecka (Gathering and text formatting, Czechia)
150
Digital Communication in Multi-Disciplinary Teams:

Preparing students for a future building project context
Stefan Boeykens
KU Leuven, Department of Architecture, Urbanism and Planning, Belgium
[email protected]
Dr. Stefan Boeykens is an architect-engineer, from Leuven (Belgium). After a few years of architectural practice, he
joined KU Leuven to pursue his PhD in 2007 focusing on the BIM design process. He teaches several modules in the
"Architectural Computing" courses, on BIM, visualization, parametric design and real-time architecture.
Pauline De Somer
KU Leuven, Department of Civil Engineering, Belgium
Ralf Klein
KaHo Sint-Lieven Campus, Belgum and KU Leuven, Department of Civil Engineering, Belgium
Dirk Saelens
KU Leuven, Department of Civil Engineering, Belgium
Abstract
The construction industry is currently in a quite important phase of change and

evolution towards better productivity and efficiency. The way project partners
collaborate is being redefined. This is to a large extent due to an ever-increasing
building project complexity. Projects need to be delivered faster, at the lowest
possible cost and adhering to a rising set of performance criteria, such as energy
consumption, structural stability, cost, accessibility, safety and many others. To
be able to answer these demands, the different stakeholders in construction
projects will work together in Building Teams from the very first stages of the
project, at a moment where many design decisions still need to be made and
thus can positively influence the project outcome. New evolutions such as
―Integrated Project Delivery‖ (IPD) and the ―Building Information Modeling‖ (BIM)
methodology are being applied to manage these new processes, in addition to a
wide variety of digital communication techniques, such as cloud computing,
model servers and online audio- and videoconferencing technologies.
The COM.BI project is a two-year educational innovation project at the KU

Leuven Association in Belgium (Reference OOF 2011/24), where different
151
construction-related schools are working together to better prepare students for

this future building practice. The partners in this project introduce students to
these technologies and methods, by organizing information and learning events
and by organizing collaborative exercises, over the traditional school borders.
This is done by organizing multi-disciplinary building teams that use digital
communication techniques to work together and by including a reflection phase
to force students to question the used processes and methods.
This paper describes how the collaboration between architects, engineers and
other disciplines is being organized in this project and how it fits within the
didactical framework of the project. Within the first year, collaboration scenarios
were executed and evaluated to be refined during the second year. In addition,
feedback from a regional BIM-focused workshop with educational and
professional external parties, confirmed on the objectives. At the end of the
project, the collaboration activities will be fully integrated in the different curricula
involved in the project, to ensure the longevity of the project results.
Keywords: Education; architecture; engineering; construction; multi-disciplinary;

multi-campus; Building Information Modeling; Communication
Problem Statement & Context
When teaching students of architecture or other related disciplines, there is little opportunity of
embedding them in life-like scenarios that mimic their later professional career. Students of
different profiles hardly ever meet during their curriculum, even though they will have to work
together in construction projects and on building sites. Internships in architectural or engineering
offices are but one method of preparing them and allowing them to experience what a future job
could mean. However, there is only limited time to include internships as part of the curriculum
(e.g. between semesters). Moreover, since places are often limited, alternatives are welcome.
Within the OOF 2007/24 educational innovation project on multi-disciplinary collaboration using
building teams, it was concluded that students do not often fully understand the importance and
correct execution of collaboration inside a building team. As members of such a team they need
to make appointments, assign responsibilities and tasks, utilize the relevant communication
tools or set up systems for sharing documents and models. While they are familiar with current
communication technology such as chatting, text messaging and especially social media sites
(e.g. Facebook), they are not very aware of how and when to apply them properly during project
collaboration. Similarly, cloud-based systems for file sharing, such as the Dropbox service, are
not applied in a structured, thought-out way. Communication itself proved to be an important
bottleneck for collaboration in a building team.
The COM.BI Project (OOF 2011/24) that is described in this article extends upon this previous
project, precisely by focusing more on means of digital communication and in addition applying
the BIM methodology. This is especially important as future building project collaboration
specifically implies an increased usage of digital communication tools and digital building
models.
Within building teams, all actors collaborate and provide mutual feedback on an equal level.
When architects present a design proposal, it can be directly evaluated on performance or
constructability and the project cost is continuously monitored. Partners deliberately gather to
improve project quality. Such collaboration, from the beginning of the building process, is very
152
relevant in a context of increasing complexity, rising performance requirements and more

stringent time schedule reductions. Many building owners start to request such collaboration,
where design and analysis of financial, energetic, structural and other performance aspects are
elaborated in parallel. Reduction of the cost of failures is one of the reasons to require all this
expertise upfront, at the beginning of the building project.
Students need to learn their position and responsibilities within this global building and design
process and learn to understand how to use communication properly, to enable productive
collaboration. Moreover, it is important that students learn about other disciplines, to better
understand where their own expertise stops and assistance from other experts is demanded. By
receiving feedback from other disciplines, the building project can be examined from a different
point-of-view, which can lead to better, more qualitative results.
As was noticed during previous projects, students within an architectural school often had no
idea what students from other construction-related schools were doing, which came to them as
quite a shock.
Goals and objectives
The COM.BI project has three main learning objectives. (1.) To experience and critically
evaluate the possibilities and difficulties of communication and information exchange; (2.) to
manage project information through the application of digital building models (implying BIM) and
(3.) to gain insight into the synergy of a building project team.
These goals will be achieved by forming a (simulated) building project team, with specific
attention to communication and information management. Students will collaborate within a
common framework, across the borders of different construction-related disciplines.
In addition, learning material and domain knowledge is prepared and shared by the project
collaborators, to better support educators that intend to embed these objectives as part of their
courses.
The didactical framework that is being elaborated during the funded two-year timeframe needs
to be implemented and embedded in the respective curricula to ensure sustainable project
results. While the specific collaboration activities are inherently domain-specific, such as the
assessment of energy performance or the elaboration of a construction roadmap for a particular
design, the generic didactical structure can be shared with other educational institutes and
interested third-parties, allowing them to apply similar collaborations, even when applied in
different domains.
Challenges
It was understood from the start of the project that several aspects complicate the collaboration
activities.
The organization of digital communication and information exchange requires proper technical
knowledge and understanding of different communication methods, software tools and best
practices. This is complicated by incompatible software systems, application versions and
proprietary data formats that can only be used in a single application. E.g. Autodesk Revit does
not support saving models for a previous version of the program, making it impossible to
cooperate with someone who works in a different version of the software.
153
In addition, there are several modes of communication, which can differ in time (synchronous
and asynchronous) and place, as the different involved curricula are located in different cities
throughout our region. Students should obtain an understanding of the suitability of these
modes in a given situation. E.g. an interactive, real-time chat session presents other
opportunities than an asynchronous e-mail exchange. Moreover, there are different maturities
and experience levels between participating students, as Professional and Academic Bachelor
and Master students are involved. This is also exemplified by ―cultural‖ differences. Whereas
students in architecture are famous for occasionally continuing a project till late at night before a
deadline, this is uncommon with engineering students and can lead to frustration during
collaboration.
The different roles in the building team should not be underestimated either. By effectively
taking on a particular role, students discover their specific tasks and responsibilities. This is
advantageous over the more traditional approach of the design studio teacher or tutor taking on
the different roles themselves towards the student, such as building owner, contractor or
consultancy office. In traditional group work in the design studio, all students usually take on the
role of the designer.
Students from different curricula speak a different language, as was noticed during the previous
project and during the first phase of the current project. While an architect, an engineer and a
building contractor use similar terms, they sometimes imply a very different meaning within their
own context. E.g. for an architect, the floor belongs as part of the story above, where the activity
occurs, whereas an engineer looks at the floor as forming a load above the beams and columns
from the story below.
There are also concerns about the different time restrictions when collaborating with students
from different courses, as each involved course can have a different amount of credits and
expected efforts. This was experienced when architecture students taking a 5 credit course
could not motivate engineering students, for whom the participation only represented 1 credit
from another course.
Furthermore, it can also be challenging to properly convince tutors and teaching assistants of
the added value of a multi-disciplinary collaboration. There are different teaching cultures
between participating institutions. During the first phase, some teachers saw the collaboration
efforts mostly as an additional burden on their tasks, without a direct benefit. This was partly
remedied by changing the collaboration in the second phase to other courses, where project-
partners are more involved and thus motivated to take on the extra efforts caused by the
collaboration. Timely involvement of the teaching staff is paramount to ensure everybody is
working towards the same goals.
The Challenge of using BIM in the design studio
In most architectural schools, traditional 2D CAD drafting is still prevalent, while the use of 3D is
limited mostly to representation and visualization. Furthermore, some design studio teachers
exhibit hesitation or even a negative attitude towards BIM, effectively warning students against
the application of BIM. Some of their concerns could be countered, at least partially, by
providing additional guidance and learning material, liberating design studio teachers a bit from
the difficulties students encounter while learning BIM. Ambrose (2012) specifically argues that
―abstraction is at the heart of most design studios in schools of architecture‖, whereas BIM
presents a ―way of thinking that seeks to simulate the construction of a building‖. Most design
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studio teachers are practicing architects, but many of them still rely on traditional 2D CAD for
documentation and drafting. However, as further confirmed by Ambrose, BIM is a design
methodology and not just a tool and ―the way we make architecture is being transformed
through the very digital tools, methods and processes we use‖. Berwald (2008) also describes
how BIM will alter architectural education, even against the prejudice that BIM might hinder
design creativity. While on the one hand, BIM provides convenience, by offering pre-defined
materials, assemblies or optimized modeling tools or wizards, it also presents complexities that
are not encountered with traditional drawing methods. Berwald (2008) argues that ―creating new
objects […] requires relatively fewer skills‖ in 2D CAD when compared with setting up custom
objects or components for BIM. In 2D drafting a single set of methods can be applied to
represent anything.
In the long term, BIM should be accepted as a methodology, rather than as a representational
software tool and should be provided sufficient support beyond a single introductory course.
This is in line with the evolution of BIM from being used locally, as an internal method inside an
architectural or engineering office, towards a more global, collaborative usage among project
partners. Jernigan (2008) dubs this ―Little BIM‖ versus ―BIG BIM‖.
Reflections after the first project phase
Within the previous OOF 2007/24 project, collaboration and working in design teams were the
primary focus. After the first phase of the COM.BI project, some collaboration scenarios have
already been implemented and a few alterations were required.
Some of the groups during the first project phase did not see themselves as part of a group and
hardly communicated with their peers. It is therefore important to effectively bring together
students from the start of the actual collaboration. At first, this allows students to get to know
their team members during a so-called forming stage (Verclyte and Dekeyser, 2003), to
smoothen the collaboration stage. Students will be more willing to have regular communications
with their team members.
During the first meeting, students and teachers give each other oral instructions and explain
their assignment. While they work on the same project, they have different tasks and will be
graded on different criteria. Students really required clear and unambiguous instructions, in
addition to understanding the task of other students, to better see what they need to achieve as
a group.
It is important that time is foreseen to practice digital communication tools. While students might
be aware of some of the technologies, they might not always fully understand how they can be
used properly. This was especially apparent when using web-conferencing. In general it takes
about half an hour (ore even more) of testing the technology, installing required software
components and setting up microphone and headphones. Even when all technical requirements
are met, it is necessary to learn how to properly ―talk‖ in a virtual, online group. These
experiences were used for additional guidelines, to clarify the different roles. Full video-
conferencing was also organized, in a dedicated and adequately equipped room, using high-
quality microphones and large-screen video transmission. However, such facilities were not
available on all locations and this could not compete with the convenience of web-conferencing,
where students work on their own laptop, from any location with reasonable Internet connection.
Proper introduction and guidance to the usage of such tools is absolutely necessary, as
students would fall back on their trusted current habits, even though they might not be the most
appropriate. That said, during the first project phase it was noticed that most communication
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was not so smooth. The collaboration itself required more tutor guidance as well. When using
web-conferencing, moderating the session proved really helpful.
In addition, meeting each other during the preliminary design phase is obviously more effective
to be able to anticipate adjustments to reach the required building performance. The group acts
as a team with equal roles, as equal partners. While still not common in our regional building
practice, working in building teams is gaining acceptance, especially when combined with BIM.
Based on these experiences, it was decided to take on a more gradual approach. By focusing
on actual information exchange processes, the chances of communication problems diminish.
This involves a mixture of live and virtual meetings, BIM model exchanges but also generic CAD
drawings, for situations where students are not using BIM at all.
Methodology
Educational Methodology
The notion of ―Constructivism‖ (Dochy et al., 2000) from didactic literature is followed in the next
section, applied in the context of project-based education of the COM.BI project.
Learning is active: students will elaborate the learning material at their own pace. They are
requested to structure and assimilate this more independently, instead of relying on classroom
explanation. Working in team on a project is not a very common learning format in higher
education, although it is more widely applied in architectural and engineering schools.
Learning is cumulative: assimilating new knowledge always builds on previous gathered

knowledge. All students are familiar with digital communication tools, such as Facebook, Skype
or services like Dropbox, but they are not familiar with how to apply these tools in a collaborative
situation. This is something that they can learn in this project. In addition, while the involved
students of architecture are well acquainted with the design process, they lack the construction
execution skills from students from the professional bachelor in construction. By receiving
feedback from other disciplines, they gather new knowledge, directly applied in their own
context and activity and which can be related to their already established knowledge structures.
Learning is constructive: the collaborative assignments places emphasis on the whole building
process. Links between different disciplines are established. Students learn each other‘s tasks
and responsibilities and how to apply them into the building process.
Learning is context-based: by applying their assignment in a fairly realistic context, they are
prepared for a future professional context, where similar collaborations will occur.
Learning is meaningful: the received learning material and information is applicable. The gained
knowledge can be applied in their later professional working context, which can be a motivating
factor for students.
Learning is a cognitive conflict: looking for a solution presents a challenge for students. The
cognitive conflict is presented here as an actual construction problem.
Learning is a matter of extensive practice: students need to apply their knowledge in a variety of
situations. They are presented with an unsolved (at least for them) problem and need to apply
their knowledge (again) in a new situation. In this project, this implies both the knowledge
obtained on communication tools as knowledge on the specific context (construction, building
performance and BIM).
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Knowledge originates and evolves in a social context: collaboration will improve learning results.
Learning is self-regulating and purpose-oriented: students need to formulate targets and have to
take responsibilities to obtain them. They are requested to plan their communications and
collaboration. While the actual planning and execution is not provided for them, it is imperative
that tutors provide a good structure or framework, as will be described further on in this article.
Collaborative Aspects
Capabilities in collaboration, communication and information management can be noticed in this

project. Dijkstra (ND) mentions collaboration capabilities explicitly referring to Fogarty (1999),
who distinguishes between four different collaboration capabilities:
(1) Leadership capabilities: control, encourage, taking responsibilities;
(2) Communication capabilities: letting others talk, explain, listen;
(3) Conflict resolution capabilities: compromise, respect alternative opinions;
(4) Team building capabilities: involve others, share material, and identify with a group.
This project presents an opportunity to practice all these capabilities through collaboration
activities. There are three distinct collaboration scenarios that are elaborated in this project. To
assess the effectiveness of the collaborations, students reflect on the chosen communication
method and on the collaboration process using surveys and peer assessment.
The first collaboration occurs synchronously between master students in architecture and
professional bachelor students in construction. The architecture students work on a zero-impact
building project, which is elaborated and evaluated by the construction students, who translate
certain building element connections into a logical and feasible construction sequence, to take
the proposed solution into a planning process for a contractor. This is also used to prepare a
cost calculation. While the architects are using a combination of CAD and BIM to model their
design, it was decided, based on available knowledge and guidance, to stick with CAD drawings
exclusively for the exchange.
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Figure 1: physical meeting between students, discussing their design on the computer.
Figure 2: physical meeting between students, discussing their design on the computer.
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A second collaboration involves master students in civil engineering and bachelor students in
architecture-engineering. The first group is quite experienced in the calculation and simulation of
building performances and technical installations, while the latter has had no prior introduction
to building physics and energy performance at that time in their curriculum. They will learn these
aspects at a later phase, so receiving some insights on the actual performance of their design is
a valuable feedback. Both groups are learning BIM and the collaborative aspects of BIM are
seen as an important added value in the curriculum. However, for various reasons, they both
use different BIM software (Graphisoft ArchiCAD or Autodesk Revit). The architecture-
engineering students will form groups to elaborate selected designs using BIM and provide the
models in the neutral Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) format to the engineering students, to
calculate the energy performance and to design an HVAC-system. Mitchell at al. (2007) and
Hitchcock and Wong (2011) already investigated how IFC can be used for thermal analysis, by
exchanging models between architects and engineers and how specific model views are set up
to aid the information exchange. This collaboration has both synchronous and a-synchronous
aspects, as a combination of a physical common meeting and online information exchange,
using any of the available technologies, if deemed appropriate by the students.
A third collaboration involves a group of master students from different disciplines (architecture,
engineering and energy) who are asked to make energy performance simulations for existing
buildings. While they had to survey and draft the investigated buildings in the past, it was opted
to utilize BIM models provided by architecture students from another school, created as part of
their BIM modeling learning process. Since these two exercises occur in parallel, the models
from one year can only be provided during the next year, so this is a fully a-synchronous
collaboration. For the first year, project collaborators prepared the BIM models instead.
It is good to understand that collaborations during the course of the project are usually executed
with a subgroup of students. This helped to evaluate the project after the first year and allowed
some alterations. As a consequence, student feedback was mostly qualitative and subjective.
As some groups only contained about 10 students, it is not relevant to derive any statistically
meaningful trends.
Organization of a BIM Workshop
At the end of the first year, a regional BIM workshop was organized for teachers, software
vendors and professionals to present the approach of the COM.BI project and to receive input
from the local construction industry on the status and demand for BIM. Break-out sessions were
used to actively involve attendants in thematic discussions. The event was also used to present
the current state-of-the-art of BIM and where it is evolving regionally and globally. The workshop
helped to refine the collaboration scenarios, check the demand for BIM from the regional
industry and to further improve the project methodology.
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Figure 3: BIM-workshop and break-out session
Attendance was above expectations and confirmed the growing interest in BIM. Participants
explicitly appreciated this push for our local region. In return, they helped us to orient the project
as good as possible and bring it in line with recent methods that are under development in our
region and beyond.
Implementation and project output
Prepared teaching material

To assist the collaborations, students were given guidelines to receive an overview of the
collaboration process and to assist them with agreements and requirements. Several
documents have been set up for the students.
The ―building team file‖ is based on an IPDP (Integrated Project Delivery Protocol) document set
up by a local BIM software vendor (Kubusinfo, ND). This document focuses on how to organize
BIM-based project collaboration, by specifying agreements, tasks and responsibilities, planning
(using a Gantt chart), deadlines and the used technologies and document formats. The building
team file consists of a series of questions, to force students to reflect on several aspects and to
assist the task assignment between their team members. They are free to distribute the
workload however they see fit.
A second series of documents are output reports, presented as structured documents to be

filled-in by the students. They contain the ―building team report‖ and a ―log book‖ to be
completed after each collaboration moment. At the end of the project, a ―peer assessment
questionnaire‖ evaluates the involvement of all team partners. This will be completed together
with the final submissions of the building models, the building performance analysis report and
the ―final reflection report‖. These documents are part of the students‘ reflection on their learning
trajectory, which is paramount for a conscious and controlled learning process, referred to as a
―meta-cognitive process‖ by Dijkstra (ND).
Several self-reflecting questions are posed during these evaluations. But to arrive to this point,
teachers need to create situations that foster this kind of questions. One possible approach is
the organization of a frequent evaluation roundtable discussion, with the teacher asking these
reflective questions. Another approach is the completion of questionnaires, individually or as a
group, using questions such as ―What went right?‖ ―What went wrong?‖ and ―How do I continue
from here?‖
In this project, students are explicitly asked to reflect on the status of their work, the
collaboration and the used communication methods. The ―building team report‖ is used to
collect these answers. In addition, this is also asked at the end of the collaboration, through the
160
―final reflection report‖ and the peer assessment. It is important that the process and the
collaboration itself are also evaluated as for the perceived effectiveness or to identify
bottlenecks.
Shared introductory presentations
To guide students to the concepts of BIM and building team collaboration, several introduction
presentations were set up. They are being shared and extended between project partners.
A first presentation is a general introduction to Building Information Modeling

(http://prezi.com/ppmsvvw_el0a/presentatie-bim), which explains its main concepts and
advantages. This is accompanied by a second presentation focusing on information exchange
and communication methods applied in the context of a building project team
(http://prezi.com/gxxttvqkmnwr/samenwerking). A third presentation discusses performance
simulation (http://prezi.com/6gqems1qkwov/simulatie-en-bim), with special attention to energy
performance and technical installations and how information can be derived from BIM models.
Depending on the audience, one or more of these presentations are combined in a single
session.
Figure 4: Prezi Presentation BIM
Students were asked to fill in a questionnaire, forcing them to reflect on the concepts of BIM and
the possibilities for collaboration during the building process, based on the information provided
during the presentation. This also refined the presentations, allowing them to be reused and
shared between partners. They have already been used to introduce BIM and collaboration to
other audiences.
161
Info Evening
As part of the student guidance, dedicated info-evenings are organized, where professionals
present their usage of BIM or their collaboration activities as witnessed in their practice. This
increases the credibility of the BIM concepts and cooperation methodology and proves to the
students that these concepts are being applied in the construction industry. It is also an
opportunity to present certain pitfalls or bottlenecks in the current practice.
Feedback and evaluation
There are different levels of feedback identified. Within the collaboration activities, students
receive project-based feedback on their design. This is mostly noticeable when an architectural
model is extended with an engineering model and the performance is calculated. This will lead
to a more optimized and qualitative design.
There is also process-based feedback, where students are asked to reflect on the information
exchange and the collaboration, through questionnaires and peer assessment. They will have to
reflect on how to organize the collaboration, when to communicate and ask questions on how,
when and with whom. This also implies a reflection on the BIM methodology itself, which is very
important, considering the current state of rather limited BIM adoption in our region. With this
knowledge, students are being prepared for their upcoming professional career, where such
processes will play an increasingly important role.
Results
Even though the project is still ongoing at the time of writing, several project results can already
be reported.
(1) There are a few curriculum refinements within the involved schools that participate in this
project.
(2) Insights and results are being shared between partners and are being made available for
other interested parties as well, through the project website
(http://caad.asro.kuleuven.be/BIM/CMS/).
(3) Learning material, either set up as part of a particular course or made specifically in the
context of this project, is being shared as well. This includes a series of video-tutorials and text-
based documents, which can be useful for others as well. They are being linked to particular
courses within the Toledo system (based on BlackBoard).
The project‘s success will be measured by continued collaboration, after the funding period. The
aim is to establish a regional network of teachers, researchers and professionals, to further
stimulate the education and application of BIM in our region.
The project outcome will be further disseminated to other involved and interested parties and
the learning outcomes will be further abstracted to be more applicable into other domains, which
broadens the validity of the approaches for the funding body.
Acknowledgements
This project was funded by the ―Education Development Fund‖ of the Association KU Leuven,
with reference OOF 2011/24.
The project also builds on experience gathered during a previous related project from the same
funding body, with reference OOF 2007/24, focusing on multi-disciplinary collaboration in
building teams.
162
Bibliography
Ambrose, M. A. (2012). Agent Provocateur – BIM In The Academic Design Studio. International
Journal of Architectural Computing, 10(01), 53–66. doi:10.1260/1478-0771.10.1.53
Berwald, S. (2008). From CAD to BIM: The Experience of Architectural Education with Building
Information Modeling. In M. Ettouney (Ed.), AEI 2008 (pp. 1–5). Reston, VA: American Society
of Civil Engineers. doi:10.1061/41002(328)8
Dijkstra, R. (Not Dated). Coöperatief leren door Rinse Dijkstra. (PDF from
http://lerendoejezelf.be/nl/node/372).
Dochy, F., Heylen, L., & Van De Mosselaar, H. (2000). Coöperatief leren in een krachtige
leeromgeving. Handboek probleemgestuurd leren in de praktijk. (p. 152). Leuven: Acco.
Fogarty, R. (1999). Hersenwerk in de klas (Dutch translation). Utrecht (NL): APS.
Hitchcock, R. J., & Wong, J. (2011). Transforming IFC Architectural View BIMS for Energy
Simulation: 2011. Proceedings of Building Simulation 2011: 12th Conference of International
Building Performance Simulation Association (pp. 1089–1095). Sidney (Australia).
Jernigan, F. E. (2008). BIG BIM, Little BIM (Second Edition, p. 328). 4Site Press.
Kubusinfo (Not Dated). IPDP-Protocol (PDF downloaded from http://kubusinfo.nl/OpenBIM-

solutions/OpenBIM/IPDP-protocol).
OOF 2007-24: ‗Ontwerpen in multidisciplinaire teams (multi-disciplinary collaboration in building

teams)‘ (2009), Internal final report
Verclyte, G., & Dekeyser, L. (2003). Klasmanagement : methodisch werken met de klas als
groep (p. 124). Wolters Plantyn.
163
Expanding architecture through education: Experimenting on the

margins of our discipline
Petra Pferdmenges
Luca School of Arts, Belgium
[email protected]
Petra Pferdmenges is the founder of the research-based practice Alive Architecture. She is a design studio teacher
and researcher @ Sint-Lucas Architectuur (KU Leuven) and develops her practice-based PhD at RMIT university in
collaboration with Sint-Lucas Architectuur. Previously she taught at the University of Ličge, Belgium. Petra gave
lectures in multiple universities, including the Polytechnical University HongKong, TU Delft, RMIT University
Melbourne, the Istanbul Kultur University, the university of Applied Sciences in Germany and the university of Cluj in
Romania.
Abstract
To discuss the future of architectural education it is important to point out the

wide meaning of architecture today through looking at a series of innovative
contemporary practices. Besides the tendency of architectural offices to design
buildings including technologically complex 3D structures, more and more young
architects tend to include social aspects into our discipline by realizing urban
installations, relational performances and public events. Beyond physical
interventions some of these spatial agencies even explore the dematerialization
of our discipline through testing new media as participatory blogs as a means of
making architecture. Even though this innovative way of approaching our
profession is becoming increasingly relevant in architectural practices, education
in many European institutions remains limited to the design and building
technology of edifices with walls, doors, windows, terraces, roofs, often designed
with the latest 3D modeling and rendering programs. Those projects are an
important part of the studies for many students and should not be eliminated from
the educational agenda. Anyhow the production of documents, models and
renders is often ending up in the student‘s folder, contributing in the best case to
the making of his or her portfolio. This paper claims that architectural education
should be expanded beyond architecture as an object/ building towards
integrating socially engaged approaches between the built and the lived. On one
side it supports the production of innovative future agencies that experiment
through practice the limits of our profession. On the other side those simple
structures or virtual contributions can be realized with low budgets and have
therefore the potential to become live projects with a real impact on the public
realm of our cities.
Keywords: Expanding architecture; socially engaged; margins of profession; live

projects
To discuss the future of architectural education it is important to point out the expanded
meaning of architecture today through looking at a series of innovative contemporary agencies.
164
Besides designing buildings, more and more architects explore new ways of practicing
architecture, often in order to involve people into the design process. Beyond physical means in
form of constructed platforms, workshops and urban actions some of these practices explore
the dematerialization of our discipline through the use of new media that become part of the
design.
Even though this innovative way of approaching our profession is becoming increasingly
relevant in architectural practices, education in many European institutions often remains limited
to the design of the architectural object. This paper claims the importance of expanding
architectural education in order to produce innovative future agencies that research through
projects the limits of our profession.
Three practices on the edge of architecture
In order to argue how our discipline shifted towards an approach beyond designing buildings I
will reveal three contemporary practices founded by architects that research through their work
where architecture can be. Each practice will be presented through a short introduction on their
profile followed-up by a project realized by the agency.
1. Ecosistema Urbano: Dreamhamar, Denmark, 2011-2013
„Everyone is invited to take part and contribute to the project by posting his or her idea online.‟
127
Ecosistema Urbano is a Madrid based group of architects and urban designers with a trans-
disciplinary approach. The practice refers to their work as ‗urban social design‘128 by which they
understand the design of environments, spaces and dynamics – or differently expressed they
design social interaction within communities. The agency was involved into projects throughout
Europe, including France, Italy, Spain and Denmark.
One of their principal projects is Dreamhamar, the design of the Stortorget Square in the center
of Hamar, Denmark. Instead of designing a square for the city the office chose to design a
participation- and network design process which I will explain briefly.
To realize the network design of the project Ecosistema Urbano established a temporary office
onsite for the period of the design in order to interact with the local people. A series of working
areas were part of the network design. Besides a preliminary design to give a first hunch on
what the project could be the practice created two laboratories: A physical lab which was
established to host themselves being present onsite for several month and to invite citizens for
onsite actions and workshops. Further a digital lab was created in order to invite different
designers and non-designers to participate into the project from throughout the world. Therefore
a blog was created, a Facebook page established and online workshops organized. Another
working area of the project was the application of urban actions in a sense of testing possible
future uses, an approach commonly known under the term tactical urbanism129. The method
applies quick and simple interventions in order to test future uses of public space. Further the
agency created a network with academic institutions to have proposals from students on the
project coming from different disciplines. Finally Ecosistema Urbano related the project to the
127
Ecosistema Urbano ‗What if…? Cities‘, online campaign about city visions, 2009 http://aa-projects.eu/wp-
content/uploads/2011/11/EU_ecosistemaurbano_Interview_E_web.pdf
128
Ecosistema Urbano, About, www.ecosistemaurbano.com
129
Street Plans, Tactical urbanism, Short-term Action, long term change, Volume 2, tacticalurbanismsalon.com
165
cultural backpack, a local project of Hamar, through which which artists were involved into the
project.
The approach of the project raises the question about where the design is. The practice‘s focus
is onto designing the participation in order to arrive at a final proposal rather than designing an
end product placed in the site. To judge the success of the project would not be through the
formal expression of the design but the involvement of people into the design. The role of the
architect is shifted from designing the object towards designing the process.
Image 1. Scheme of the network process design to involve people into the making of the
Stortorget square in Hamar, www.ecosistemaurbano.org
166
Image 2. Announcement digital workshops to develop the Stortorget square in Hamar,

www.ecosistemaurbano.org
Image 3. Onsite Workshop to develop the Stortorget square in Hamar,

www.ecosistemaurbano.org
167
2. EXYZT: The REUNION Public House, London, 2012
„If space is made by dynamics of exchange, then everybody can be the architects of our world
and encourage creativity, reflection and to renew social behaviors.‟130
The Paris-based agency EXYZT was founded in 2003 by five architects and later on expanded
towards a multi-disciplinary collective of 20 persons, including architects, graphic designers,
video-makers, photographers, botanists and constructors. The intention of the practice is to
construct platforms that allow activity and life to happen. The projects are temporary urban
installations that are auto-constructed and inhabited by the collective. Local communities are
invited to engage and exchange on what the future of the site might be.
One of the latest projects of the agency is the ReUNION Public House. The site along the Union
street in London, surrounded by office buildings, has been vacant for some years as the owner,
Lake estate, is researching for a potential project for the site. Instead of keeping the site
meanwhile vacant and lifeless, Lake estate invites designers to create some temporary use to
happen on the site. Since 2008 those temporary occupations help to identify the future
potentials for the site. EXYZT realized two of the four installations. While ‗Southwalk Lido‘ which
was realized in 2008 took advantage of the enclosed land, The ReUNION Public House in 2012
merged the land with its surrounding public space.
The project was inspired by the 1830 Beer Act. In the act anyone could apply for a license and
open up their front room to the public, to sell and even brew beer from their own home. The
project was a way to reveal what a Public House could be beyond the initial idea of a pub.
Inspired by the playful aspects in the history of the public houses, the REUNION was an
outdoor place where families and friends could meet, where kids could enjoy a simple paddling
pool or hang out in that playful space. EXYZT and their friends have lived on the site to host
people engaging with the place. The land has catalyzed a network of people around a piece of
land and helped to create a vision for a permanent development of the site.
While the collective uses conventional means of architecture through constructing physical
platforms, the intention of the installations goes beyond the built structure. The platforms have
as a goal the construction of activities and engagement through which space is transformed into
place. Those places are open for people to engage with the space, the collective or other
people around. The design is on one side the temporary installation and on the other side the
action that is made possible through this physical platform.
130
Exyzt: Extract of the manifesto on their practice, www.exyzt.org
168
Image 4. Site before intervention, Union Street, London
Image 5. The REUNION Public House, Temporary installation on the vacant site along Union
Street, London, to construction action, by Exyzt to construct action, 2012
169
Image 6. The REUNION Public House, Temporary installation on the vacant site along Union
Street, London, to construction action, by Exyzt to construct action, 2012
3. Alive Architecture: Infrared-Food for Love, Brussels, 2012
„Realizing actions with quick and simple means allows observing people‟s reaction in order to
improve the intervention. 131
Alive Architecture is a Brussels-based practice founded by myself in 2010: an architect,

practitioner, educator and researcher. The agency applies urban actions in order to reveal the
potential of a site through engaging with local people. In commissioned projects this method is
applied in order to test a preliminary design proposal that will then be furthered through the
observation of reactions. In self-initiated projects the quick and simple interventions are a way of
engaging with a site and the locals. Through a continuous feedback loop between action and
observation of reaction the project is developed further and may, in case of success, become
permanent. The use of popular media as Facebook, postcards, fanzine‘s or flyers supports the
construction of a network of actors involved into the project.
Infrared was developed in the framework of Jonction, a project on Brussels north-south

connection. The project is a research into the role of the architect in Brussels red light district
Rue d‟Aerschot that is running parallel to this rail line.
As an entry to act in such a fragile neighborhood I performed intuitionally in the street, painting
flashes on the sidewalk that indicated programs for the vacant spaces along the street. While
the painted flashes did not attract any attention from people, painting and washing the flashes
off the ground generated encounter with inhabitants and people passing in the area. This
engagement revealed a series of wishes of inhabitants for the street, one of them being a
restaurant.
Among a series of other actions responding to people‘s needs the principal intervention was the
installation of the pop-up restaurant Piadina Wagon. The owners sold for the duration of a day
their Italian specialties in the street. On one side the installation of the restaurant that expanded
131
Alive Architecture, reflection on the practice, www.alivearchitecture.eu
170
onto the sidewalk had a short-term value to improve the livability of the street. On the other side
we recognized the socio-economic success of the project and it became evident that there is a
potential for pop-up restaurants in the street that may have a long-term impact on the life in the
neighborhood. The owners of the Piadina Wagon, agreed to install their restaurant once per
month in the street from June to October 2012.
We used local media in order to announce the success of the project and the dates of the
presence of the mobile restaurant in the street. After several articles and announcements had
been published a second restaurant with the name Pink Panther arrived to sell Lebanese
specialties in the street (Figure 3). While the Piadina Wagon stopped their intervention this
November, the Pink Panther continues selling Lebanese food once a week in the street.
The project Infrared - Food for Love is, similar to the previous casestudies, about designing the
process rather than designing an object. Instead of spending weeks on drawing plans, quick
and simple urban actions allowed to engage with people in this difficult context, to reveal their
needs, test the proposed interventions and to observe reactions. The approach responds on
one side to the dynamics of the city and is on the other side an alternative to the long planning
process of expensive urban interventions.
Image 7. Infrared by Alive Architecture, urban actopm in public space of Brussels red light
district by painting and washing off flashes on the sidewalk, 2012
171
Image 8. Infrared-Food for Love by Alive Architecture, curating the Piadina Wagon in Brussels
red light district, a pop-up restaurant run by two Italian girls selling Italian specialities, 2012
Image 9. Parallel to the Piadina Wagon a pop-up restaurant started selling his Lebanese
specialties in Brussels red light street.
172
Where can architecture be?
All three agencies point out that architecture can be approached differently than through
designing and constructing buildings. The practices challenge the view of architecture as an
independent field of practice through collaborations with other disciplines. The collaborators
from other disciplines may be from other creative professions. Beyond this multidisciplinary
approach the collaboration with local people seems to be the most relevant issue to the
practices. While each of them has their own ways of engaging with people they all build
networks through engagement in order to forward the project. Further all three examples
expand the office space towards themselves being present onsite. All case studies present a
clear shift from object-based design to process-based design – in some cases the process is
the final product as in the case of The REUNION Public House, in others a way of engaging
people into a future project as in the case of Dreamhamar.
Conclusion
Even though these approaches might seem to be pioneer approaches, ways of doing
architecture differently became a very common interest of architecture offices. One of the
publications revealing this tendency is the recent publication Future Practices132 that presents a
series of architectural and multi-disciplinary practices experimenting on the margins of our
profession. Rory Hyde even refers to those practices not anymore being marginal but become
the center of our discipline. It becomes evident that the three examples in this paper are only an
extractions of architectural practices that investigate into how to do architecture differently
through the engagement with people.
In order to participate actively into the research into how to expand our discipline from within
academic life we have to introduce the experimentation on the margins of architecture into the
design studios throughout our architectural institutions. Students should be confronted with
questioning the limits of the discipline rather than designing within the conventional means of
how to do architecture. Providing for studios that challenge students and force them out of their
comfort zone of designing space towards designing process is a first step to forward the issue.
Further the expansion of the studio from remaining within the academic walls towards acting in
the urban environment will generate a reflection beyond architecture as an isolated field towards
working with a socio-economic context. These Live Projects could then even have a real impact
on the public realm of our cities.
Only through integrating the research on where architecture can be into our curriculum we can
participate into the making of innovative future practices that may influence the margins of our
discipline and the future role of the architecture.
132
Rory Hyde: Future Practice, Conversations from the Edge of Architecture, Routledge Publisher, 2012
173
Research into the Education of (a) Practice: Outlining a profile in

a context of profiles
Jo Van Den Berghe
LUCA, Sint-Lucas School of Architecture, Belgium.
[email protected]
www.jovandenberghe.be
Dr. Jo Van Den Berghe 1961 teaches architectural design, and works as a researcher at Leuven University Sint-
Lucas School of Architecture Brussels/Ghent, Belgium and Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University,
Melbourne, Australia, focussing on the field of Techné and Poiesis in making architecture. He is a reflective
practitioner-architect and co-founder of y.e.AH!-architects, Belgium.
Abstract
In this paper, I will present and explain one model (profile) of architectural
education, that can be further discussed in the face to face setting of this EAAE
conference.
Firstly, I will briefly present the curriculum of architectural education as it has

originated and evolved in the climate of the 150 year tradition of Sint-Lucas
School of Architecture in Belgium, and its impact on (contemporary and future)
architectural practice of architects who are licensed to build.
Subsequently, I will outline the position of Sint-Lucas in the research landscape
of schools of architecture today, pointing at the importance and richness of
differences between values and traditions for the benefit of all the partners
involved.
Then, I will briefly explain my own doctoral research, and situate it in the tradition
of Sint-Lucas, in an attempt to preconfigure one future direction for the profession
embedded in a transhistorical ground, of which transdisciplinarity from the
drawing board to the construction site has been, is, and will be crucial.
Finally, I will sketch some headlines of a (renewed) curriculum for architectural
education, that can prepare, shape and face this preconfigured architectural
practice.
Keywords: education, design-research , richness of differences, preconfigured, practice.
History
The school was founded in 1862 in Ghent, Belgium, as an institution for education in the Arts
and Architecture, which were closely affiliated from the start. For this reason, the program of
architectural education of Sint-Lucas takes a specific position, generated from and by the field of
the Arts (drawing, painting, sculpture), unlike other schools of architecture all over Europe that
often have originated from engineering faculties at universities.
The school‘s educational program was built around craftsmanship as the backbone of artistic
and architectural creation, hence of architectural education. As such, Sint-Lucas was closely
connected with the Arts and Crafts movement in Great Britain, and with the New Gothic ideas of
174
Violet-le-Duc (1814-1879), whose seminal book Dictionnaire Raisonné de l‟Architecture

Française du XI° au XVI° Siècle (Viollet-le-Duc 1868) has had a major influence on Sint-Lucas:
Sint-Lucas, for decades, was famous for its Neo-Gothic architectural stance. The school has
been a forerunner of this ‗craftly‘ educational approach on the European continent, positioning
the act of making in substance at the center of the proces of architectural creation, related to
John Ruskin‘s approach. ―John Ruskin (1819-1900), in his Seven Lamps of Architecture (Ruskin
1849) teaches us about the ‗lamps‘ that are capable of enlightening the darkness (…) The book
can be seen as a codification of 19th Century thinking behind the Gothic Revival, publicly
debated by A.W.N. Pugin (1812-1852), in the cultural climate of the Arts and Crafts Movement
propagated by William Morris (1834-1896). Ruskin suggests ―an honest architecture, with no
veneers, finishes, hidden support nor machined mouldings, and that beauty must be derived
from nature and crafted by man (Curl 2006). Ruskin celebrated the craftsman, as he celebrates
the substance the craftsman works with‖ (Van Den Berghe 2012).
The skill of drawing—which must be considered as a craft among the crafts of making—has
taken a central place in the so-called ‗method of Sint-Lucas‘, and remains as one of its strongest
traditions. This method is a meticulous combination of ‗observational drawing‘ (‗archaeological‘)
on the one hand (drawing after nature, learning to see what we see), and ‗compositional
drawing‘ (‗prophetical‘) on the other hand (drawing after imagination, learning to draw what we
dream), in order to facilitate the students‘ abilities ‗to dream‘ to be nurtured by his/her abilities to
observe, which in its own right can enhance his/her abilities ‗to make‘ more precise images of
what he/she is able ‗to dream‘. This brings drawing at the centre of the process of artistic and
architectural creation.
I will continue on these aspects of craft and substance, and on drawing, in the upcoming
paragraphs.
In this cultural climate, Sint-Lucas School of Architecture was founded and took a start, and it
continued to work within this paradigm of craftsmanship deep into the 1930‘s. Then, with the
Second World War, and the urge to rebuild a destroyed Europe after it, Sint-Lucas School of
Architecture has rapidly evolved into Twentieth Century Modernism, forming generations of
architects who could, and still can, stand to their contemporaries. With it, the belief in an
architecture procured by industrial serial production had grown and took the place of
handcrafted ‗one- piece‘ productions, and the conviction that a ‗scientific‘ architecture based on
universal laws has been embraced up till the 1950‘s and 1960‘s, and incorporated in the design
studio activities. By the end of the 1960‘s, however, Sint-Lucas transformed itself through the
bottom-up student movement that shook Western Europe and North America, inspired by the
critical philosophical theory of the Frankfurter Schule, proliferated through the writings of
Theodor Adorno, Max Horkheimer and Herbert Marcuse. This fierce criticism, formulated by the
student movement at Sint-Lucas, instated a new staff at the school. The students aimed their
criticism at Modernism‘s uniformity and ‗equalism‘, rooted in the age of Enlightenment that,
according to them, had degenerated into the opposite of its own aspirations. The students of
Sint-Lucas, in fact, were demanding an educational program shaped around criticism towards
both their inherited Modernism and the Arts and Crafts roots of the school. Both—at that time—
had become a doctrine, suppressive towards the non-identical, which felt like a hollow shell
running out of time. More likely, the students wanted to re-invent and re-vitalise the inherited
‗craftsmanship‘, especially with its potential concerning the ‗non identical‘, the higly personal,
which they wanted to embed in an early process of academisation. As for the latter, they
demanded, and obtained, what they called ‗academic education of the long type‘, which was the
buzzword back then for lifting architectural education (among others, like higher education in
music, and art) at the critical level of education at universities.
175
In the 1970‘s and 1980‘s, this endeavour shifted into Post-Modernism, as we have seen in many
schools of architecture, which also included an architectural practice that more and more
astranged from the process of making in substance, in favour of a more ‗conceptual‘ approach
based on architectural theories (typologies, quotations, narratives). The aforementioned
universal laws of a self confident Modernism had staggered, and the focus of creation
processes in architecture was shifting to more careful, negotiated, contextualised and well
considered stances in accordance with the philosophical shifts that were changing the world.
Also, ‗Substance‘, which had been at the center of the process of architectural creation, hence
being the backbone of architectural education like it had been in the early days and throughout
the Art-Deco and Modernist era‘s, was softly moving to the background, as the foreground was
being taken by a more conceptual, theoretical and historical architectural discourse. Architects
who had been trained so as to be licensed to build, were transforming into architects who were
licensed to speak, to talk about (their) architecture in a theorizing mood. To talk about
architecture was occupying the foreground, to build (this) architecture in many cases was a
mere consequence of this espoused architectural discourse.133
In recent years, this rather conceptual, theoretical and historical approach has gradually faded
into the background of Sint-Lucas again, without completely disappearing though. The more
recent Denk!-studio (Think! studio) and Doe!-studio (Do! studio), have become the merging
fields of didactics applied at Sint-Lucas today, which connect the initial ‗making‘ from the early
days of the school with the more theoretical and historical ‗thinking‘ that had filtered through in
the 1970‘s and 1980‘s, bringing ‗making‘ and ‗thinking‘ in a meaningful balance, relevant in the
prospect of the future architectural practices the students are being prepared for at Sint-Lucas:
architects who are licensed to build.
Architectural Practice and Research
Hence, the position of Sint-Lucas in the landscape of schools of architecture today is the result
of constant careful adjustments, as briefly outlined above. But there has been a more recent
development that has had a major influence on Sint-Lucas‘s position in the aforementioned
landscape.
Within the Bologna Process (1999), and the forthcoming academisation, Sint-Lucas has—like
many other schools of architecture that have originated from the field of art instead of the
academic world of universities—embarked on research. It is important to note that, in this
process, Sint-Lucas has had to closely investigate its identity: what is it that makes its identity
specific, and can this specificity be connected with appropriate research strategies and
paradigms?
Sint-Lucas has chosen not to ‗imitate‘ the traditional academic research paradigms, as applied
at universities, because this would oppose its own origins (see above), and its core business,
which is designing to produce good architectural practice, more than researching in Theory,
History and Criticism (THC), which is the domain of universities who are better in it, since they
have this strong tradition in natural sciences, humanities and social sciences. Instead, for Sint-
Lucas—and there were many schools of architecture all over Europe that are in a comparable
situation—a more specific type of research in architecture, ‗research in/by/through design‘, was
appropriate and legitimate for the field, and it might produce a different kind of new knowledge,
perhaps otherwise remaining unknown, but so relevant to the field of architectural education,
and hence for the forthcoming architectural practice.
133
The fierce economic crisis of that time may also explain this: .
176
From the mid 1990‘s, this specific research was becoming ‗thinkable‘. It was the time when the
debate on possible ‗kinds‘ of research was flaming up, which lead the staff of Sint-Lucas to
organise a first international conference on ‗research in/by/through design‘: The Unthinkable
Doctorate, in 2005 (Verbeke 2005).
In this intellectual atmosphere, Sint-Lucas has strenghtened its specific design-research

approach by organising a pre-doctoral education program: the Research Training Sessions
(RTS). This two year program, initiated by Johan Verbeke, is meant to introduce future
researchers, who want to investigate (in) the medium of design itself (as the core business of
architectural practice and architectural education Sint-Lucas has a strong tradition in) into
epistelomogical matters and different design-research paradigms. The RTS program enables
participants to obtain an overview on different design-research approaches, to position their own
research topics in the range of paradigms, and to discuss and decide on which paradigm might
be the most suitable with regards to their own research themes.
It is important to note that the organisation of this first international conference, The Unthinkable
Doctorate (Verbeke 2005), the Research Training Sessions (that started in 2005, and still
ongoing), a second international conference in 2009, Communicating (by) Design (Verbeke and
Jakimowicz 2009), and the upcoming third international conference on design-research in May
2013, Knowing (by) Designing, at Sint-Lucas School of Architecture, has become possible
through—at the same time has co-generated—an international network that connects schools of
architecture all over Europe and the world. Also, the Research Training Sessions, that are
driven by the visits of international tutors, who provide input from their specific research
approaches and fields through eight seminars over a two-year program, have strongly
contributed to the cohesion of this network, not only between tutors and participants, but also
between tutors and the different institutions they represent. Whereas the first batches of RTS
participants have been members of the Sint-Lucas teaching staff, wanting to embark on design-
research, the RTS program has gradually been opened up to participants coming from other
fields and institutions, which highly contributed to the transdisciplinarity and the affiliation of Sint-
Lucas with its international partners, not only institutionally, but also as a community ‗on the
ground‘.
We can say that this whole evolution, ignited by the Bologna Process, prepared and executed
by the board of Sint-Lucas between 1995, and still ongoing today, has thouroughly transformed
Sint-Lucas School of Architecture. A network of international alliances has found its legitimate
place in the European landscape of schools of architecture, standing side by side—and
affiliating with—the network of faculties of architecture at universities, mostly incorporated in
engineering faculties.
Within the Bologna Process, and to facilitate the process of academisation, Sint-Lucas School
of Architecture has embarked on research, together with other schools of art.134 As a ‗traditional‘
school of architecture, coming forth from the arts, Sint-Lucas has become the Faculty of
Architecture in the Leuven University, and educates students to become architects. This new
Leuven University Faculty of Architecture is forming ‗non-identical twins‘ with ASRO
(Architectuur Stedenbouw en Ruimtelijke Ordening). The latter is part of the Leuven University
Faculty of Civil Engineering and educates students to become engineer-architects. Both have
now been brought next to each other as two types of architectural education: one coming forth
from ‗the arts‘ (Sint-Lucas), one coming forth from ‗science‘ (ASRO).
134
Sint-Lucas School of Architecture, Sint-Lucas School of Arts, Sint-Lukas Brussels, NARAFI, and Lemmens School
of Music form LUCA (Leuven University College of Arts).
177
Of course, there is a healthy rivalry between those two partners, but it is my belief that together
they allow for a more refined and complete coverage of the beloved field of architecture.
Moreover, both partners share a common Research Department, where their research
paradigms can coexist so as to serve the field of architecture with a broad array of research
possibilities in Design-Research and in Theory, History and Criticism, where their networks can
mutually strengthen each other, and where focusses can differ and interests can merge. After a
long period of preparations, both partners by now have become aware of the benefits of this
partnership that can improve the field of architecture.
The RTS program had offered us a room with a view on a landscape of research paradigms, in
which we could do observations so as to find our righteous place. Offering this room with a view,
the RTS program was pointing at the importance and richness of differences between
paradigms and cultures at the benefit of all the partners involved in and beyond the field of
architecture.
Finally, the co-existence of faculties (see above) encapsulates this richness of differences and
cultures to the full extent.
Research and Architectural Practice
Being an alumnus of Sint-Lucas, where I started my architectural education in late 1979 and
graduated in 1984, and belonging to the teaching staff since 2005, I started the RTS program
(see above), and I graduated in early 2009. Then, I immediately embarked on my doctoral
research in 2009 at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University (RMIT), in
Melbourne, Australia. I successfully did my Ph.D defence on 23 November 2012.
Through the RTS program, the differences between Mode 1 and Mode 2 knowledge (Gibbons et
al. 1994), and the potential of the Mode 2 knowledge production have become clear. It was
becoming clear to the research community of Sint-Lucas and its affiliated schools of architecture
that ‗Research in/by/through design‘ could be conducted by actively going into the design
processes so as to witness its uncertainties (Nowotny, Scott and Gibbons 2001), yet working
according to viable standards of rigour and honesty (Glanville 2009).
Being a reflective practitioner (Schön 1983), who reflects on what it is that constitutes a critical
architectural practice (since 1987), it was evident to me that I would ‗research in/by/through
design‘, because designing is my natural intellectual habitat through which I can produce new
original communicable knowledge (Dunin-Woyseth 2009) at the benefit of the domain of
architectural practice—a substantial part of the field of architecture.
When I embarked on my Ph.D, it was my firm belief that an architectural design process started
with ‗to dream‘ a poetic image135, that subsequently and unidirectionally had to become ‗to
make‘ in substance by the genius mind of the architect that should impose its will on the
ignorant substance of the world. I estimated that I should investigate the mechanisms at work
between ‗to dream‘ and ‗to make‘, and I was confident that my research simply would be to map
135
The concept of the poetic image has been brought forward by Vitruvius, who called it the architectural idea, and
forthcoming from this, Alberto Pérez-Gómez has further elaborated on it, ―… the poetic image, called after Vitruvius
the architectural idea (the images that are proposed by the architect, issuing from his or her mind‘s eye‖ (P rez-
Gómez 2006.a).
178
this unidirectional process from ‗to dream‘ to ‗to make‘. But by going deeper in my investigations
I was becoming aware of the false nature of this assumed unidirectionality.
Through investigations on my critical practice in the context of other critical practices, through
reading, through making new designs in the core of this Ph.D, through observations of these
design processes, through self-validations and peer reviewed presentations, through
discussions with academics and peers, and through writing, I have worked my way through this
research, and made my wondrous discoveries.
Within the limited range of this paper, I will only briefly sketch the headlines of my research.136
As for the research theme:
My contribution to the field is manifold, but all elements of it hide under my basic argument: a
creation process in architecture all too automatically is considered as a unidirectional process
that starts with the poetic image (π), that subsequently is substantiated on the construction site
(©).
π  ©
In my research, I have investigated whether this unidirectionality was false, or not.
As for the research method:
The data of this research have been generated by design actions and observations on design
actions—what I have called ‗the interrogation of the practice‘, and by a literature study.137
My doctoral research is Qualitative Research138 (Strauss 1987), and has borrowed methods
from social science, and more specifically Grounded Theory Research (Strauss and Corbin
1989)(Corbin and Strauss 1990).
Through the subsequent stages of data collecting and data processing (mainly memo writing
and memo drawing), which were the stages of ‗open coding‘, ‗axial coding‘ and ‗selective
coding‘ (Corbin and Strauss 1990), I have started to break through habitual ways of thinking,
and a set of new concepts has emerged, that subsequently began to group around the core
Concept of Section.
In the meantime, and by doing so, my research has confirmed that, and clarified how the
drawing-as-section appears to be the continuous hyphen between the subsequent stages of
architectural creation, which includes construction practice on the building site. With the latter,
transdisciplinarity enters and enriches the process of architectural creation.
The basic lines of the drawing-as-section139, as put on paper by the architect-as-draftsman,

bring the characteristics of the vertical section of the site (landscape) on the drawing board,
where the drawing-as-section becomes the section-as-excavation in both the site and the mind
136
For the full reading, I refer to my Ph.D Theatre of Operations, or: Construction Site as Architectural Design (Van
Den Berghe 2012).
137
The literature study consisted of reading, and investigating works of other critical architectural practices. I have
referred to these works in the same way I have referred to written sources, and as such they have an equal status in
the list of references of the Ph.D.
138
In the meaning of: as different from Quantitative Research, for instance, applied in Natural Sciences.
139
Section, here, (almost) always means: the vertical (longitudinal or traverse) section.
179
of the architect-as-draftsman, and hence the section-as-excavation becomes the excavation-as-

construction site, where the architect-as-draftsman becomes the master builder (ideally they are
the same person) who traces (draws) the vertical section of the edifice into the vertical section
of the substance of the landscape, and in the substance of the edifice.
The drawing-as-section appears to permanently carry the Translations from Drawing to Building
(Evans 1997), and vice-versa, as the negotiating space between the process of creation and the
architect (to dream), but also between the construction site (to make) and the drawing board.
Then, I could get a better grip on my basic argument through the gradual discovery in my
mental space (van Schaik 2008), out of which a series of four Basic Design Themes and two
Aprioristic Conditions have emerged.140
Basic Design Themes:

1. Thickness
2. Substance
3. Depth
4. Darkness
Aprioristic Conditions:
1. The Emergence of Thickness (and The Concept of Section);
2. Depth as the First Dimension.
The thorough investigation of my critical practice in the context of critical practices has
generated a set of concepts:
1. The Eye Level in the Perspective / the Labyrinthine;
2. Borrowing from Tektonikos;
3. The Chronological Drawing / Chronology on the Drawing Table;
4. Designing in Substance / Substance on the Drawing Table;
5. The X-Ray-Drawing.
These concepts, through the selective coding (Corbin and Strauss 1990), appeared to group
around the Core Concept of Section.
Subsequently, I have found that the Core Concept of Section, with the other five concepts
around it, is at work in the Aprioristic Conditions, so as to perform the Basic Design Themes.
The Core Concept of Section, then and there, is the necessary tool that permits the master
builder ‗to anatomized‘: the Emergence of Thickness141 is what has to be anatomized, the
Concept of Section is there to anatomize with, and Depth142 is what I anatomize for, in order to
find or make it.
The Concept of Section, thus, is indispensable so as
140
I have asked for expert input for my research from a clinical psychologist, in order to structure the sometimes
confronting and conflicting information that was coming to the surface, and in order to guide this information to an
appropriate place in my mind, and from there in my research. This expert input helped to keep this part of the
research on the track of rigour.
141
Of the landscape, and of the Substance that comes forth from it, and with which we build (to make).
142
In architecture, as the counterpoint of the infinite Cartesian thinning, and enhanced by taking depth as the first of
the three dimensions (with width as the second, and length as the third dimension). For further reading I strongly
recommend The Space of Architecture: Meaning as Presence and Representation, by Alberto Pérez-Gómez, A.
(2006.b).
180
to perform (‗to make‘ Thickness of Substance) in order to generate (‗to dream‘ Depth Darkness),
or to perform (to make) in order to generate (to dream), or to perform © in order to generate π
or to perform construction practice in order to generate the poetic image.
Through the subsequent research steps, my research has revealed that the assumed
unidirectionality from ‗to dream‘ to ‗to make‘ is false, and that the process of creation, which
includes the substantiation, is much more negotiated, two-directional, and that, in my critical
practice, and in the critical practices of architects and cultural actors who contribute to my
argument, the poetic image (π) is often triggered by construction practice (©). The dream is
triggered by the Substance.
π  ©
These concepts co-operate (see above) so as to become a specific moment in a specific place,
merging the moment of ‗to dream‘ (π) with the place of ‗to make‘ (©) into an energetic
‗momentum‘, the acute moment of creation when the designing architect can place
himself/herself at the strategic intersection of time (the moment of ‗to dream‘) and space (the
place of ‗to make‘). I have called this moment of acuteness the State of Emergency.
Through this research, I have found relevant connections between the basic stances of Sint-
Lucas School of Architecture from its early beginnings (see above), and actual and future
architectural practice. These connections are establishable through two elements:
firstly, the careful and critical application of the craft of architectural drawing (the ‗Method of
Sint-Lucas‘—see above). Here, it is my suggestion—as my research has revealed—to
specifically apply sections: the drawing-as-section that works as the supportive hyphen
throughout the whole process of creation, which includes its substantiation, which ‗draws a
continuous line‘ throughout the process of creation;
secondly, through meticulous craftsmanship applied in the careful transactions of and with the
substance of the world.
It is my strong belief that these two elements enable the designing architect to precisely define
the intersection of the time of ‗to dream‘ with the place of ‗to make‘, and to consciously position
the designing architect at this critical intersection, where he/she resides in the State of
Emergency. So doing, these two elements can strongly support the preconfiguration of one
future direction for the profession, embedded in a transhistorical ground.
Together, these two elements constitute the backbone of (my) future critical architectural
practice.
Architectural Education
Finally, I will sketch some headlines of a (renewed) curriculum for architectural education, that
can prepare, shape and face this preconfigured critical architectural practice.
As a potential herald of what may become a modified curriculum, I am currently starting a

design exercise with third year students at Sint-Lucas School of Architecture. I am asking the
students to directly design in substance, starting from a fiction that includes the availability of
181
2.500.000 orange bricks, with which an infill of twelve dwellings and a small factory has to be
built in the interstices between existing free standing dwellings in an average suburbia.
Then, I demand the (almost) exclusive application of the drawing-as-section in the process of
creation, and to vividly imagine the drawing-as-section as the section-as-excavation on the site,
which then becomes the excavation-as-construction site in their imagination, so as to
immediately design ‗in sections‘ on the imagined construction site. Drawing as a craft, also, as
what Juhani Pallasmaa would call The Thinking Hand (Pallasmaa 2009).
Here, I also recall Louis Kahn, when he teaches us that ―… in Gothic times, architects built in
solid stones (…) If we would train ourselves to draw as we build, from the bottom up, when we
do, stopping our pencil to make a mark at the joints of pouring or erecting, ornament would grow
out of our love for the expression of method (…) The desire to express how it is done would
filter through the entire society of building, to architect, engineer, builder and draftsman‖
(Frampton 1980).
But, why this urgent emphasis on sections? Well, there are two reasons, I think. Firstly, this
rigorous application of the Concept of Section allows for a relentless anatomisation of the
substance of the world in which architecture is implanted, and out of which architecture is made,
so as to see, investigate and undestand the nature of this substance.
Secondly, because these sections allow the student to anatomise the construction process with
its inevitable sequence of steps it takes to build: the logic and chronology—chrono-logic—of
building, based on the inevitable vertical direction of gravity, which students have to learn,
understand, rehearse and practice as future master builders. The drawing-as-section
preconfigures sections-as-excavations for foundation slabs in concrete that bear brick walls,
sections of wooden window frames, steel lintels, wooden girders of the roof. By doing so, the
student critically analyses—anatomises—the construction process yet starts to build, literally
and metaphorically, his/her own critical architectural practice.
Then, the student will be Bachelor of Architecture, if he/she succeeds. Subsequently, in a

second move to modify the current curriculum, the student should be allowed to continue and
further rehearse and refine this method in his/her two master years to come. Perhaps, this
renewed curriculum for architectural education can prepare, shape and face this preconfigured
critical architectural practice.
To organise this design studio as an intersubjective platform of understanding allows for a direct
and meaningful dissemination of my aforementioned research results, and it is also meant to
affect the (critical, I may hope) architectural practices of future architects who are licensed to
build.
References:
Corbin, J., and Strauss, A. (1990), Grounded Theory Research: Procedures, Canons,
and Evaluative Criteria, Qualitative Sociology, Vol. 13, N° 1, Springer, New York, New
York, US.
Curl, J.S. (2006), A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape, Oxford University Press,
Oxford, UK., p. 668.
182
Dunin-Woyseth, H. (2009), personal communication with the author, during an

intermediary validation session of the Ph.D research by the author.
Evans, R. (1997), Translations from Drawing to Building and Other Essays, Architectural Association,
London, UK.
Frampton, K. (1980), Modern Architecture: a critical history, Thames & Hudson Ltd.,
London, UK., p. 244.
Glanville, R. (2009), personal communication with the author, during an intermediary

validation session of the Ph.D research of the author.
Gibbons, M. and Limoges, C. and Nowotny, H. and Schwartzman, S. and Scott, P. and
Trow, M. (1994), The New Production of Knowledge: the dynamics of science and
research in contemporary societies, Sage, London, UK.
Nowotny, H. and Scott, P. and Gibbons, M. (2001), Rethinking Science: Knowledge in

an Age of Uncertainty, Polity Press, Oxford, UK.
Pallasmaa, J. (2009), The Thinking Hand, Existential and Embodied Wisdom in

Architecture, John Wiley & Sons, Chichester, UK.
Pérez-Gómez, A. (2006.a), Built upon Love: Architectural Longing after Ethics and
Aesthetics, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, US., and London, UK., p. 71.
Pérez-Gómez, A. (2006.b), The Space of Architecture: Meaning as Presence and

Representation, in: Questions of Perception: Phenomenology in Architecture, Steven
Holl, Juhani Pallasmaa, Alberto Pérez—Gómez, William Stout Publishers, San
Francisco, US.
Ruskin, J. (1849), The Seven Lamps of Architecture, Wiley, New York, US.
Schön, D.A. (1983), The Reflective Practitioner: how professionals think in action,
Temple Smith, London, UK.
Strauss, A. (1987), Qualitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, NY., US.
Strauss, A., and Corbin, J. (1989), Tracing Lines of Conditional Influence: Matrix and
Paths, Paper delivered at the annual meetings of the American Sociological Society,
August 13, San Francisco, CA., US.
183
Van Den Berghe, J. (2012), Theatre of Operations, or: Construction Site as Architectural
Design, Ph.D dissertation, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia, SmallBook 2, p. 122.
van Schaik, L. (2008), Spatial Intelligence: New Futures for Architecture, John Wiley &
Sons Ltd., Chichester, UK.
Verbeke, J., Belderbos, M. eds. (2005), The Unthinkable Doctorate, Network for Theory, History
and Criticism of Architecture, and Sint-Lucas School of Architecture, Brussels / Ghent, Belgium.
Verbeke, J., Jakimowicz, A. eds. (2009), Communicating (by) Design, Chalmers University of
Technology, Göteborg, Sweden, and Sint-Lucas School of Architecture, Brussels / Ghent,
Belgium.
Viollet-le-Duc, E.M. (1868), Dictionnaire Raisonn de l‘Architecture Française du XI° au

XVI° Siècle, Editeur A. Morel, Paris, France.
184
Can Theories Transform Cities?
Aseem Inam
Parsons The New School for Design, United Sates
[email protected]
Aseem Inam is Director of the Theories of Urban Practice Program and Associate Professor of Urbanism at Parsons
The New School for Design in New York City. He is also a Fellow at the Center for Ethics and Transformative Values
at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Key words: urban design, urbanism, urban transformation, design education,

architectural education, Parsons
Parsons The New School for Design in New York is developing a powerful, new, and innovative
approach to the design of cities. Parsons is part of The New School, a well-known progressive
university founded nearly a century ago by a group of scholars interested in improving their
understanding of the key issues of the day through active questioning, debate, and discussion.
In the 21st century, one of the commitments the University has made is to cities through a wide
range of disciplines and divisions such as the social sciences (e.g. urban sociology, urban
anthropology, urban politics), public policy (e.g. urban policy, economic development, non-profit
management), international affairs (e.g. global urban futures), civic engagement (e.g.
community activism and partnerships), and most recently, design (e.g. urban practice).
185
Figure 1: As a university, The New School has taken several recent initiatives to bolster studies
about cities. Source: accessed January 22, 2012: http://www.newschool.edu
One of the oldest divisions of The New School university, Parsons, has recently developed
three new programs, an undergraduate program and two graduate programs at the master‘s
level. Parsons is a well known school of art and design, with programs in architecture, interior
design, lighting design, graphic design, fashion design, painting, sculpture, photography, design
and technology, and may other innovative programs, such in design studies and in
transdisciplinary design. Located in the heart of Manhattan, Parsons in intimately connected
with New York City, through research, projects, and practice.
Figure 2: Parsons The New School for Design, the design division of The New School
university, itself consists of various schools such as the School of Design Strategies, where the
new Ma Theories of Urban Practice program resides. Source, accessed January 24, 2012:
http://www.newschool.edu/parsons/about/
This paper focuses on the new MA Theories of Urban Practice program, which has several
innovative features. First of all, the program in a separate department from the architecture and
the urban policy programs, which enables it develop its own unique approach to the design of
future cities. Second, it is located in a department within Parsons known as the School of
Design Strategies, which is quite unique in that it is interdisciplinary (e.g. with professors who
have backgrounds in anthropology, philosophy, business, as well as the design fields), it is
ambiguous (e.g. ―design strategies‖ can mean several different things depending on the
context), and it proposes that design is a means rather than an ends (e.g. the goal is not so
much to develop an end-product but to approach design as a means for larger goals). Fourth,
186
and perhaps most remarkably, it considers critical theories, actionable research, and strategic
knowledge as modes of design practice.
Figure 3: The MA Theories of Urban Practice website is the ―front door‖ to the world, and
explains its new approach, with links to faculty profiles, admissions requirements, interview with
the director, and more. Source, accessed January 25, 2012:
http://www.newschool.edu/parsons/ma-theories-urban-research/
The approach adopted by the MA Theories of Urban Practice does not subscribe to the
standard divisions between thinking and action, theory and practice, academia and the
profession, or research in practice. Instead, it is based on the belief that thinking is action, that
theory and practice have a symbiotic relationship, that how we thinking absolutely colors how
we act, and that patterns of thought—for example, about how cities are or should be designed—
emerge out of grounded contexts, conditions, and actions. What this implies is that to truly
transform cities, one has to also truly transform the way we think about cities. Otherwise, claims
such as best practices, sustainability, and the potential for technology rest upon already existing
ways in which poor practices, unsustainable systems, and the ineffective technologies
dominate.
The Urban Practice program is also innovative in that in the subject of study. Parsons The New
School of Design was recently ranked one of the top five schools of design in the world by
Business Insider magazine. Most design schools focus on urban form (e.g. the layout,
spatiality, and materiality of cities) as the end product in their lectures, seminars and studios. In
the Urban Practice program, urban form is a means—rather than the ends—for understanding
and radically changing the underlying and larger political, economic, and social structures and
187
dynamics that actually shape cities. Thus, the subject of city is urban transformation: How do
cities transform? How do we design urban transformation? In this context, transformation is
drastic and fundamental change.
In order to generate significant and meaningful change, we consider design to be a creative

political act, in which with engage with and redesign how form-making decisions are made (e.g.
budgets, site selection, programming of spaces, and overall allocation of resources). For
example, while we welcome so-called ―sustainable‖ design strategies such as green roofs and
permeable pavements for roads and parking lots, we feel it is not nearly enough because the
underlying systems of production of cities are themselves unsustainable. Similarly, we consider
practice to be forms of strategic intervention (rather than simply a narrowly-defined professional
career), which revolve around creative strategizing about tipping points where small
interventions lead to big changes. An illustrative example of this is when the major obstacle or
catalyst for an urbanist project lies outside the mainstream realm of design—such as a
municipal budget—which pushes the urbanist to consider how think creatively about budgeting
(in collaboration with others such as public economists) and the ways in which budgeting relates
to matters of urban form, such as whether resources are allocated for the public realm like parks
or favor subsidies for private developers.
Thus, in the Urban Practice program, the relationship between theories, practice, and urbanism
are to think critically and creatively about the different ways in which critical theories, strategic
knowledge and actionable research are in fact modes of design that transform cities. The
ultimate goal of this approach is to have an impact on the city and on the lives of people who
inhabit it. This is in contradistinction to most urban design programs where the focus is primarily
on three-dimensional form as the end goal and where claims of equity or community
participation or sustainability are almost always secondary to matters of form. In fact, in those
programs that still—perhaps implicitly—consider urbanism to be more of less architecture at a
larger scale, the push is often towards novelty for the sake of novelty (e.g. technologically-
derived parametric forms that look different).
Many of the faculty who have helped shape the program and teach its classes emerge out of
practice, and continue to test and refine these ideas in the field. I will illustrate this through a
project I worked on in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake of January 2010 in Haiti. I
was a member of a team invited by the Government of Haiti a few weeks after the earthquake to
design a recovery strategy focusing on housing, which was a top priority, since thousands of
Haitians were left homeless and on the streets in a country where there was already a serious
housing shortage. Apart from the massive destruction and tragic loss of lives, the Haitian
government was faced two simultaneous challenges: many of the senior government officials
were killed in the earthquake, and they were overwhelmed by offers of assistance from
architects, urbanists, disaster specialists and other experts offering a wide variety of advice, and
from prefabricated and modular housing manufacturers offering to design and build thousands
of housing units, including setting up factories in Haiti. Our team was tasked with gaining an in-
depth on-the-ground understanding of the housing situation, assessing the multiple offers of aid
from all over the world, and proposing a strategy for housing recovery in the capital, Port au
Prince as well other regions affected by the earthquake.
From the onset, we adopted two design strategies: research as practice, and theory as
practice. In terms of research, we found out quickly before and during our visit that the primary
problem regarding housing was not design, or materials, or construction technology; rather it
was the critical issue of land. The problem with land in Haiti is land ownership records are still
on paper in thousands of files, which makes updating and tracking ownership extremely
cumbersome. A second, larger problem was that of multiple ownership of plots of land, most
188
often due to corruption in which land titles are altered—which results in multiple owners claiming
a single piece of land. Thus, the well-meaning architects and designers who came up post-
earthquake housing designs failed to understand, due to a lack of research, that the critical
factor in housing was in fact land issues and its attendant issue of infrastructure. In this context,
housing designs had little significance.
While most experts theorized Haiti as a failed state and Port au Prince as a failed city, we
theorized the country as one of assets and resourcefulness, even with all its problems. As
example, a well-intentioned group from an institute of engineering analyzed the failure of
buildings that collapsed in the earthquake. Their findings included poor quality materials and
construction a failure to comply with building codes, which were inadequate in the first place.
Their recommendations focused on higher standards of building codes, for example in
reinforced concrete construction. Their recommendations implied importing vast amounts of
expensive cement and steel. There was just one problem they overlooked: Haiti is the poorest
country in the western hemisphere.
Thus, as the vast majority of consultants were busy problematizing the city in the earthquake‘s
aftermath, we sought out examples of what actually worked. One instance is a pair of
lightweight wood frame structures that withstood the earthquake while supposedly stronger
concrete buildings around them collapsed. Haiti used to have a vast supply of wood and there
was knowledge of wood frame construction that can be carried out without too much expensive
equipment. Another instance is that since Haiti is such a poor country, the residents have a
long tradition of inventiveness and resourcefulness, which are necessary for survival. We saw
how they recycle everything, including salvaged construction materials from collapsed buildings.
We set about finding ways to support and improve these innovative strategies that emerge out
of the specific context of Haiti.
Figure 4: A pair of lightweight wood frame houses that withstood the devastation of the January
2010 earthquake in Port au Prince, Haiti, while many of the surrounding concrete buildings
collapsed. Source: Aseem Inam.
189
By embracing research as practice and theory as practice, we produced shifts in designing

housing recovery in Haiti and other low-income countries affected by disasters. While the
instinctive reactions of architects to immediately proposing post-disaster housing is
understandable, it actually misses the point. It is only by shifting toward a deeper and systemic
understanding (i.e. research) of the context (e.g. patterns of land ownership), could these
creative proposals actually become feasible. Similarly, design and technology approaches that
attempt to only fix problems (e.g. imported construction technologies) would make much more
sense had they attempted to frame the issue (e.g. theory) as one of discovering and improving
upon existing and emerging (e.g. low-cost resilient construction methods). This calls for a
fundamental shift in how architects, designers, and urbanists are taught to think and practice.
Students in the Urban Practice program engage with the complex reality of changing cities in a
number of ways. One of the primary strategies is through vigorous public discourse and debate.
For example, in September 2011 I received a grant to organize a one-day public symposium
entitled ―Making Cities: Whither Design?‖ in which leading theorists, researchers and
professors of urbanism presented their ideas for the future of the field, including the role of
technology, gender, public policy, changing demographics, and subversive tactics in the making
of cities. We also conduct an annual lecture series called the ―Urban Colloquium,‖ which brings
to Parsons some of the most accomplished and innovative practitioners from New York,
Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Amsterdam, Cairo, Belo Horizonte, Karachi and other cities. The
lecture series is part of a required course in which students learn about and critique various
forms of urban practice and begin to imagine inventing their own practices. There are other
special events focusing on this type of public engagement with the future of the city, such as a
recent symposium, ―Emerging Asian Cities: Provocations and Practices,‖ which focused on
stimulating dialogues between urbanists and curators, graphic designers, photographers, and
fashion anthropologist on various aspects of Asian cities such as the legacy of colonialism,
cultural constructions of the public realm, traces and influences of multiple traditions, and
notions of verticality and horizontality in urban representation. Through all these public forums,
faculty and students interact with scholars and practitioners while these scholars and
practitioners become familiar with the new approach developed in the Urban Practice program.
190
Figure 5: A poster for the Urban Colloquium, showing the wide range of innovative urban
practitioners from all over the world who came to Parsons to interact with the faculty and
students of the program. Source: Aseem Inam.
191
A common question regarding the program is what students will do upon graduation. We
identified two tracks, perhaps in an over-simplified manner. One is what I call mainstream types
of practice, such as private design firms, real estate and nonprofit developers, public agencies
such as those in planning, parks and transportation, international organizations like the United
Nations or the World Bank, and educational institutions. Even in these mainstream practices,
we expect our alumni to challenge and begin to change rigid and outdated ways of designing
and building cities in small and large ways. The second track is the so-called alternative track,
which consists of groups where one finds some of the most exciting ideas and cutting edge
strategies regarding the future of cities. These include nonprofit activist and advocacy groups,
international collaborative networks (e.g. Slum Dwellers International), foundations and think
tanks, new practices such as flex practices, and designing cities by designing social movements
and policy strategies. We hope that many of our alumni will develop new pedagogies (e.g.
when they go on to do a Ph.D. and then teach) and new practices (e.g. using strategic
interventions rather than master plans).
Finally, one of the key questions for architectural education is: What is more significant, clinging
to an architectural approach to urbanism in which three-dimensional form trumps all, or using
the creative and critical thinking of the design fields to find ways to truly transform cities? In
other words, what works best if we are serious about doing the hard work of bring about
fundamental positive change in our cities? If we are serious about this challenge in the 21 st
century—which is indeed the urban century—we have to be willing to apply our interdisciplinary
skills to the underlying structures that shape cities. We have to be willing to take risks and dig
deeper, engage with serious challenges such as poverty and politics, rather than simply retreat
to our virtual drawing board. The MA Theories of Urban Practice program is a serious,
thoughtful pedagogical approach to do exactly that.
192
193
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Speakers‘ Corner was one of the important

activities taking place during the
conference,
Resit SOLEY who was invited as a

guest speaker to give a speech, closed his
office after too many buildings and awards
in architectural design. Currently he owns
and runs Turkey‘s most successful
wineyard, CORVUS, having numerous
international awards. By his speech with the
topic ―Is Design a Matter of Creativity?‖, he
criticized architectural education as a
power which kills the ability to create in
architectural design.
Aruna Ramani GROVER, an

academician from India, shared her
thoughts on the big difference in-between
the issues of discussion about architectural
education at different countries.
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Cooking and eating is an open channel connecting different cultures. Friends coming from
different cultures are invited to be included in the space of Turkish food. Big Chef Rudolf Van
Nunen designed a spatial experience for sharing the individual thoughts and skills through
cooking and eating together. This workshop was organized as a parallel event of
MIKULT/Istanbul Kultur University Student Club for Architecture to the EAAE/IKU
International Conference-Workshop-Exhibition Educating the Future: Architectural
Education in the International Perspective was being held on March 21/23, 2013 at Istanbul
Kultur University. The content of the workshop depends on the EAAE project/Improving the
Relationship in-between the Turkish and the European Schools of Architecture.
The workshop was open to the conference attendees, conference organization and scientific
committee members, EAAE council members and project leaders and the MIKULT members. It
was fascinating to see everyone at the university joined to the event with pleasure. Thinking that
every week there is an organization at the university with delicious food presentation, it was not
about the food offered for sure. More, the energy of the people, the atmosphere of the space
was very attractive. The cooking activity brought all of the students, the teachers, the
administrative staff, the rector and the cooks together. The cooks I see very tired and bored
before were very proud and shining. Attendees of the conference who were used to filter each
other standing with a drink were dancing, talking with loud voice and sharing their real wishes
with each other. Their favorite color, their weak/strong sides, their body movement, etc. were
there open to everybody without making any filtration. It was not important if there will be an
after… They were living the now…
IKU students stated to work one month before the conference to prepare the workshop. It is
thought that as long as the number and the nationality of the people increases, the workshop
would habe been more successful. Therefore our conference was decided to be the right event
for the food workshop to be attached to. The students learned not only the calculations for multi
variables, but finding connections inbetween different activities and communicating with various
proffessions in the context of space. They organized the space considering time, sound, light,
objects, motion. They not only designed the process, but also realized/made application on its
place. They observed the whole process starting from designing, building and deconstructing
during just for one day.
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The aim of the workshop was producing spaces open to the participating inhabitants, designed
over the dynamics of Istanbul. People not only motivated to express themselves, but got in
contact with each other in these spaces installed around Galata tower.
Teachers and students as participants from different countries were grouped in 10 with a
mixture of nationalities and the statues. Members of the groups decided the management style.
Some of them selected someone (teacher or student) as a leader. There were group
coordinators who were responsible for the security and coordination. They didn‘t take part within
the design process but solved the problems when it was necessary.
Each group made a discussion after a lecture given by Esra Fidanoglu on open spaces
produced by the crowds in Istanbul. Subject of design is given at the same moment which is a
station stopping people to do ―something‖. Materials supported by the university were carried to
the site where the participants decided to make installation. As soon as the spaces were
installed, people of all ages around came closer and started activities. All workshop process is
recorded and organized as a presentation to be discussed the next day at the university.
We saw the city people are ready to share if they find an opportunity. Architect‘s role in the
society became clearer. Information taken from the city was helpful for directing the architects to
design working projects.
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I strongly appreciated to lısten to such a interesting varıety of presentation. Especially I

enjoyed the sunday lectures linked to practiSce. I missed slightly in some presentations
where the future of architectural education.
Petra PFERDMENGES
We enjoyed very much since the conference had a very broad range of comment and
interesting themes concerning the links between the practice and research.
Bruno GIL
Educating the future: the aim of eaae to clarify what is research in architecture (by design) is
essential. The next generation of architects and especially educators of architecture must
deal with the changed challenges of our proffesion. This years EAAE conference hosted by
Kultur University in istanbul was a great opportunity for young and experienced
academicians to share their experiences and thoughts about the role of architecture
education for a common future of the professıon.
P.s. Applause for big chef rudolf van nunen for his efforts to bring architects on a common
opinion succeded!
Balint BACHMANN
I caught some concepts, which might define common sense/or point of interest at the
conference: collaboration, learning from city, making, creativity, little interventions to the city,
curriculum change.
Students are intellectual, open and smart. The teachers must improve their methods to be
able to make qualified discussions.
International studies are very fruitful if there is a collective production. During this
conference we had two activities of collective production which reatescontact between the
people: the workshop for intervening Istanbul and the workshop for food and space
Esra FIDANOGLU
Topics for next conferences which have emerged from this wonderful conference in Istanbul:
How architectural education can have a meaningful contribution for the other fields.
Financing architectural practice based research from international perspective.
Building a web archieve of alternative research processes.
Wide variety of thoughts, cultures, food and friendly people.
Stefan BOEYKENS
I would like to draw, do you follow me?
227
Jo VAN DEN BERGHE
The conference contributed to facilitating discussions and exchanges between Turkish

schools and participants and the international community. Starting such a dialogue and
exchange is an important undertaking as it is critical to develop better mutual understanding
which is the basis for innovation and future oriented development of research and
education.
Johan VERBEKE
228

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EDUCATING THE FUTURE: ARCHITECTURAL EDUCATION IN

© Istanbul Kültür University

Edited by: Esra Fidanoglu

Book Design: Esra Fidanoglu

Cover Design: Erdem Ungur

First Published: July 2013

Istanbul Kültür University

İstanbul Kültür University Library Cataloging in Publication Data:

Edited by Esra Fidanoglu

We started with a group of 5 academicians, in Europe and a group of 22 academicians in

Research and funding: opportunities and recent developments; Architecture is a discipline.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Esra Fidanoglu

Educating the Future: Research and Learning

Prof. Dr. Urs Hirschberg

Architectural Education and the Future

Prof. Dr. Neslihan Dostoglu

European Association for Architectural Education (EAAE) is a very sophisticated association

Prof. Dr. Mehmet Sener Kucukdogu

Building Friendships, Collaborations and Projects

Thank you very much. Enjoy your conference!

Prof. Dr. Siddika Semahat Demir

Adalberto Del Bo Politecnico di Milano, Italy

CONFERENCE ORGANIZING COMMITTEE

Asiye Akgun Istanbul Kultur University, Turkey

EAAE PROJECT GROUP

Adalberto Del Bo Politecnico di Milano, Italy

TURKISH SUPPORTIVE TEAM for the PROJECT

Ahenk Yılmaz Izmir University of Economy

KEYNOTES and CHAIRS

Similarities and differences: architecture and the disciplines of art, design

Research and funding: opportunities and recent developments

Curricula: different profiles/same diplomas

Keynote: Richard M. Sommer (Prof. Dr. / University of Totonto, Canada)

Practice: relationship to the profession

Keynote: Mehmet Kutukcuoglu (Teget Architectural Office, Turkey)

Architectural Research and Practice

Similarities and differences:

Research and Funding:

Re-Visiting BSED*: An interpretation of the educational aims

The Architectural Design Studio as a Series of Research Programs

Innovative Architecture, Research and Education at the Same Place

Architectural Education and Music:

Expanding Architecture through Education:

Research into the Education of (a) Practice:

Can Theories Transform Cities?

SPEAKER’S CORNER 193

EXHIBITION: posters 197

EXHIBITION: starting architectural education 205

WORKSHOP / BUILDING: Intervening Istanbul 211

WORKSHOP / SHARING: Magic of Food and Space 215

FORUM: Final Words 225

Architectural Research and Practice

It is well known that innovation in architecture is generated by experimentation

 As a consequence of the Bologna declaration

 Research output starts impacting on the funding of schools of architecture (as it

What brings the future?

In order to develop appropriate approaches, it is suggested not to install formality of one

Peer-reviewing should be structurally organized in order to raise quality as high as possible.

ENHSA, http://www.enhsa.net/ [accessed 23rd April 2013]